Opening the Gates: Interactive and Multimedia Elements of Newspaper Websites in Latin America Ingrid Bachmann Summer Harlow The University of Texas at Austin ISOJ 2011

Aims Understand how newspaper websites in Latin America are handling an industry-wide shift toward participatory journalism. Are newspapers opening their newsrooms to citizens by providing web features that encourage reader participation? How much participation is actually possible, considering the digital divide?

Theoretical framework Gatekeeping (White, 1950; Shoemaker, 1991) Citizen journalism, para-journalism, public journalism, user-generated content, collaborative journalism, and participatory journalism (Black, 1997; Burns, 2010; Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2001; Rosen, 2008; Thurman, 2008; Vujnovicet al., 2010; Bowman & Willis, 2003) Digital divide (Castells, 2001; Diani, 2000; Fuchs, 2009)

Methods Content analysis 19 Latin American newspapers Flagship newspaper from each country except Puerto Rico Dec. 9-15, 2010 Home pages, and 2,304 articles coded Inter-coder reliability Cohen’s kappa.81-1

Methods Multimedia Video, photo, mobile devices, links Interactive Sharing via social media or , search feature, most popular stories Participatory Reporting corrections, submitting citizen reports, reader comments

Results Homepage multimedia features

Results Homepage interactive features

Results Homepage participatory features

Results Stories’ multimedia features

Results Stories’ interactive features

Results Stories’ participatory features

Results The features were included in varying degrees. These web features were not correlated with press freedom or development. However, multimedia features and combined web features were significantly correlated with Internet penetration. That is, newspapers from countries with higher rates of Internet access included more multimedia elements.

Conclusions These Latin American newspapers include basic multimedia elements, but are slow to adopt more interactive and participatory features. Newspapers in Latin America still follow a print- first mentality, adapting new technologies to fit with old practices. Reader interaction allowed only on a superficial basis. Digital divide limiting web features offered?

Will newspapers… …forego their traditional role as gatekeepers and fully embrace the interactive potential of the Internet? OR …remain static, clinging to traditional print practices and philosophies in a digital world?

Opening the Gates: Interactive and Multimedia Elements of Newspaper Websites in Latin America Ingrid Bachmann Summer Harlow The University of Texas at Austin ISOJ 2011