Media events in an age of “cross-media”: a smartphone diary app study

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: Aiming to explore how audience consume and produce media events in the digital, distributed and social era we live in, the paper analyzes the viewing patterns of video news items during a media event (the week of Donald Trump's presidential visit to Israel, the first to a country outside the US), compared to a parallel comparable “ordinary” period (two weeks later, in which no inordinacy events occurred). The comparison focused on simultaneous activities of audiences engaged with the event, with either related (i.e. second screening) or unrelated (i.e. media multitasking). Design/methodology/approach: The research is a diary study based on a dedicated mobile app in which respondents reported their news-related behavior during two periods: a media event period and comparable “ordinary” period. Findings: Participants reported watching significantly more news video items in the first day of the media event week compared to the first day of the “ordinary” week. More than half of the viewing reports of the media event were not on TV. In the media event week, there were significantly higher percentages of viewing reports on smartphones/computers and significantly higher percentages of second-screening reports. Originality/value: This is the first study that empirically explores the viewing patterns of video news items during a media event, compared to an “ordinary” period, focusing on media second screening of audiences engaged with the event. This comparison may reveal whether (1) media events still retain their centrality in a multi-screen era and (2) the role of the internet and online social media in the experience of media events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)523-540
Number of pages18
JournalOnline Information Review
Volume48
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 24 May 2024

Keywords

  • ESM
  • Media events
  • Media multitasking
  • Mobile diary
  • Second screening

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