1. Global platform, local focus: regional news and social media
Dr Kathryn Bowd
University of Adelaide

2. Background
Adoption of social media by mainstream metro news outlets relatively slow and inconsistent
News outlets have spent many years playing ‘catch up’ with social media adoption and growth
Regional news media generally even slower to adopt:
Limited resources
Time constraints
Perceived lack of demand (emphasis on print product; older audiences)
Often dependent on interest by one or more individual staff members (when they went on holiday, there were no posts)
In last couple of years social media increasingly part of broader digital strategy (particularly Fairfax)
Ongoing editorial cuts to Fairfax’s regional operations raise questions about future of both print and digital output – fewer journalists doing wider range of tasks … what will go?

3. Regional news and social media
Facebook and Twitter dominant platforms; some Instagram
Official accounts and individual journalist accounts
Official accounts:
Used primarily to draw readers to website, and sometimes directly to print product (‘see tomorrow’s paper’)
Often feature pictorial element
Used to distribute information and encourage interaction/conversation
Individual journalist accounts:
Not part of this study, but anecdotally accounts are used in a variety of ways
Some are solely professional; others mostly personal; and some combine the two
Social media can be seen as sitting on the divide between public and private – official accounts could be considered public information, but journalists’ personal accounts may range across this divide

4. The study 3 months of Facebook posts and Tweets (March 1 to May 31)
Collected manually on weekly basis
17 newspapers in four states (SA, Victoria, NSW, Queensland); mix of dailies/non-dailies; local/corporate ownership
Official newspaper accounts only – no individual journalist accounts
Only posts/Tweets by newspaper – comments/likes/retweets etc not included in analysis
Analysis mostly qualitative at this stage – preliminary findings
Newspapers included in the study: NSW – Port Macquarie News; Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga); Northern Star (Lismore); Moree Champion; Queensland – North-West Star (Mt Isa); Whitsunday Coast Guardian (Proserpine); Beaudesert Times; Observer (Gladstone); Victoria – Ararat Advertiser; Moyne Gazette (Port Fairy); Sunraysia Daily (Mildura); Castlemaine Mail; South Australia – Bunyip (Gawler); Border Watch (Mt Gambier); Naracoorte Herald; Recorder (Port Pirie); Whyalla News

5. What was analysed?
Quantity and frequency (preliminary conclusions at this stage)
Type of content:
News
General information
Question
Call for information
Focus:
Local
National/state/international
Emphasis/theme:
Conflict
Local people
Local interest
Visual element or text only

6. Preliminary findings
Facebook used more widely than Twitter – all had a Facebook account, not all had Twitter
Content predominantly local
Non-local content often used to start local discussion on broader topic
Some newspapers used photos extensively; others very little
Some newspapers replicated content extensively across the two platforms (similar posts and Tweets)
Most used social media to direct traffic to website or print product
Limited correlation in extent of use across platforms – some used both extensively; others mostly or solely one
Ongoing evidence of engagement by few staff at some publications (e.g. gaps of one or more weeks; gaps of several months - Ararat Advertiser no tweets between January and August)

7. Dominant themes and messages
Local people
Conflict – local or inside/outside
Local events (particularly sport)
Local achievement
News and weather updates (immediacy)
Similar to dominant themes in print/on website – but some use of immediacy of social media and some interaction

8. Communicating the message
Limited use of interactivity
Most Facebook posts and/or direction to website or print publication
Interactivity generally basic:
Seeking response to news question
Seeking photos (particularly of events or weather phenomenon)
Encouraging people to have their say on local or non-local topic
Tweets also brief updates or redirection to news website
Photos widely used on Facebook (not all newspapers); limited use on Twitter

9. Local people

10. Local people

11. Conflict

12. Local events

13. Anzac Day

14. Local sport

15. Local achievement

16. News updates

17. Weather updates

18. The front page/news wrap-up
Some publications ran regular posts featuring an image of the latest front page, either on the day of printing or the day before

19. Links or no links

20. Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday
Photos from previous years used to draw traffic to paper’s website
Social and event photos; some news headlines

21. Not just text and images

22. Invitation to interact

23. Interaction

24. Next steps Further and more detailed analysis taking place
Few similarities in patterns of usage (particularly types of posts)
Are there patterns of usage across and between news outlets?
Frequency of posts
Use of images
Audience responses (e.g. numbers of “likes” on Facebook posts)
Extent of replication of content across platforms
For follow-up – do regional newspapers use social media differently to metropolitan media?
Impact of continuing cuts to regional newsrooms