Table A1
Overview of media organisations studied
| Media | Origin | Reach (weekly unique visitors, thousands) October 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Svt.se | Public service broadcaster (TV) | 1,611 |
| Sverigesradio.se | Public service broadcaster (Radio) | 879 |
| Aftonbladet.se | National tabloid | 3,261 |
| Expressen.se | National tabloid | 2,685 |
| DN.se | National broadsheet | 1,066 |
| Svd.se | National broadsheet | 1,077 |
| Tv4 | Commercial national broadcaster | n.a. |
| Metro | Free daily (mostly distributed in Stockholm but also in some other cities) | 199 |
| ABC | Regional public service broadcaster (TV) | n.a.* |
| SR Värmland | Regional public service broadcaster (Radio) | n.a.* |
| Värmlands Folkblad | Local daily | 70 |
| Nya Wermlandstidningen | Local daily | 99 |
| Mittnytt | Regional public service broad-caster (TV) | n.a.* |
| Sundsvalls Nyheter | Free weekly | n.a. |
| P4 Västmanland | Regional public service broadcaster (Radio) | n.a.* |
| Vestmanlands Läns Tidning | Local daily | 104 |
| Västerås Tidning | Free weekly | n.a. |
* The regional public service broadcasters are organised under the website of the parent organisation and there are no available traffic numbers for them.
Source: Kantar Sifo, n.d.
Table B1
Variables studied and intercoder reliability test results
| Variable | Average Holsti | Fleiss Kappa |
|---|---|---|
| Photography | 0.93 | 0.87 |
| Video/audio | 0.96 | 0.78 |
| Citizen contribution | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Shares on Facebook | 0.96 | 0.83 |
| News topic | 0.85 | 0.83 |
| Societal actors* | 0.97 | 0.75 |
| Decision-making authorities* | 0.89 | 0.63 |
| Policy plan* | 0.90 | 0.62 |
| Actors concerned* | 0.91 | 0.53 |
| Framing individual-social relevance* | 0.82 | 0.69 |
| Framing episodic-thematic* | 0.92 | 0.75 |
| Personal-impersonal* | 0.95 | 0.72 |
| Emotional-unemotional* | 0.83 | 0.44 |
| Dominant tonality* | 0.82 | 0.60 |
| Journalistic style interpretive/descriptive* | 0.91 | 0.63 |
| Journalistic positioning vis-à-vis subject* | 0.90 | 0.67 |
| Timeliness* | 0.83 | 0.62 |
| Main geographical area of reporting | 0.85 | 0.71 |
| Origin of news | 0.89 | 0.78 |
| Gender of author | 0.98 | 0.97 |
| Average score | 0.90 | 0.72 |
Table C1
Content characteristics’ effect on news sharing
| Content characteristic themes | Content charactersitics variables | OLS Regression analysis (standard error in parentheses) |
|---|---|---|
| Journalistic Style | Emotional style (ref: not emotional) | 332.665 (259.990) |
| Impersonal style (ref: personal) | 508.563 (388.578) | |
| Positive tonality (ref: no tonality) | 89.495 (373.017) | |
| Negative tonality (ref: no tonality) | 87.491 (325.036) | |
| Interpretative style (ref: descriptive style) | 1335.793*** (402.448) | |
| Critical positioning (ref: neutral) | −338.068 (496.644) | |
| Advertorial positioning (ref: neutral) | −1557.548* (751.194) | |
| No detectable positioning (ref: neutral) | −956.185* (429.770) | |
| Multimodality | Photography attached (ref: no photo) | −123.909 (280.923) |
| Video (ref: none) | 264.434 (398.651) | |
| Audio (ref: none) | −619.886 (423.797) | |
| Topic (ref: “other” incl. weather) | Politics | −622.008 (652.234) |
| Economy | −561.298 (721.542) | |
| Social issues | −371.616 (613.186) | |
| Sports | −194.602 (571.136) | |
| Accidents | −235.132 (643.155) | |
| Culture | 1353.507* (641.192) | |
| Entertainment | −320.166 (561.225) | |
| Science/tech. | 2684.851*** (781.693) | |
| Media | −949.041 (1123.215) | |
| Environment | −884.136 (887.246) | |
| Crime | 628.135 (590.565) | |
| Lifestyle/health | −711.946 (615.752) | |
| War/conflict | −182.370 (787.948) | |
| Geographical scope (ref: local) | Unable to identify geographical scope | −566.163 (760.358) |
| Regional | 252.898 (766.504) | |
| National | 562.836 (337.299) | |
| International | 119.617 (321.476) | |
| Temporality (ref: current) | Unable to identify temporality | 805.516 (549.910) |
| Past | −638.522 (396.356) | |
| Future | −444.175 (576.650) | |
| Original news story (ref: not original news) | − | −408.780 (358.913) |
| Civic engagement-index | − | 204.662 (523.231) |
| Framing | Social (ref: not applicable) | −530.646 (496.896) |
| Individual (ref: not applicable) | −71.347 (415.883) | |
| Thematic (ref: episodic) | 1033.484** (345.608) | |
| Citizen contribution (ref: no contribution) | − | 3188.259*** (848.629) |
| Gender of author (ref: woman) | Unable to identify author gender | −1032.360* (415.388) |
| Man | −751.422** (261.811) | |
| Man and woman | −687.464 (577.210) | |
| Constant | −69.494 | |
| Adjusted R2 | 0.065 | |
| R2 | 9.4% | |
| n | 1,235 |
Table C2
Odds of being a news dud
| Content characteristics themes | Content characteristics variables | Odds ratios | Lower CI | Upper CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media type (ref: local PBS) | Tabloid | .115*** | .079 | .168 |
| National broadcaster | 1.085 | .691 | 1.706 | |
| Urban broadsheet | .573** | .397 | .829 | |
| Provincial daily | .531** | .369 | .765 | |
| Emotionality | Emotional style (ref: not emotional) | .705** | .577 | .862 |
| Impersonal style (ref: personal) | .907 | .672 | 1.224 | |
| Negative tonality (ref: not applicable) | .970 | .748 | 1.257 | |
| Positive tonality (ref: not applicable) | 1.363*** | 1.027 | 1.809 | |
| Interpretative style (ref: descriptive style) | 1.026 | .746 | 1.411 | |
| No detectable positioning (ref: neutral) | .844 | .610 | 1.167 | |
| Critical positioning (ref: neutral) | .818 | .534 | 1.253 | |
| Advertorial positioning (ref: neutral) | .791 | .449 | 1.393 | |
| Multimodality | Photography attached (ref: no photo) | .608*** | .496 | .744 |
| Audio/visual elements (ref: no audio/visuals) | .600*** | .459 | .785 | |
| News topic (ref: “other” incl. weather) | Politics | .901 | .560 | 1.450 |
| Economy | .987 | .595 | 1.636 | |
| Social issues | .594* | .374 | .942 | |
| Sports | 1.353 | .891 | 2.057 | |
| Accidents | 1.041 | .643 | 1.685 | |
| Culture | .555* | .341 | .902 | |
| Entertainment | 1.244 | .810 | 1.910 | |
| Science/tech. | .848 | .478 | 1.505 | |
| Media | 1.226 | .554 | 2.714 | |
| Environment | .575 | .283 | 1.169 | |
| Crime | .732 | .474 | 1.130 | |
| Lifestyle/health | 1.557* | 1.000 | 2.425 | |
| War/conflict | .769 | .417 | 1.416 | |
| Geographical scope (ref: local) | Unable to identify geographical scope | 2.083** | 1.269 | 3.419 |
| Regional | 1.197 | .719 | 1.995 | |
| National | 1.148 | .872 | 1.511 | |
| International | .672 | 1.062 | .805 | |
| Temporality (ref: current) | Unable to identify temporality | 1.252 | .862 | 1.820 |
| Past | 1.251 | .917 | 1.707 | |
| Future | 1.069 | .713 | 1.603 | |
| Framing | Individual (ref: not applicable) | .689* | .517 | .919 |
| Social (ref: not applicable) | .487*** | .343 | .691 | |
| Thematic (ref: episodic) | .969 | .745 | 1.260 | |
| Citizen contribution (ref: no contribution) | − | .341 | .683 | .312 |
| Gender of author (ref: woman) | Unable to identify author gender | .899 | .658 | 1.229 |
| Man | .809* | .660 | .990 | |
| Man and woman | .510* | .297 | .877 | |
| Civic engagement-index | − | .655* | .434 | .989 |
| Original news story (ref: not original news) | − | .680** | .518 | .892 |
| Constant | 2.671 | |||
| Nagelkerke R2 | 25.5% | |||
| Hosmer Lemeshow | .109 | |||
| n | 2,871 |
Table C3
Comparison of significant values in different regressions
| Content characteristics themes | Content characteristics variables | Binary logistic regression: Odds of being a dud | Linear regression |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journalistic style | Emotional style (ref: not emotional) | − | n.a. |
| Impersonal style (ref: personal) | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Negative tonality (ref: not applicable) | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Positive tonality (ref: not applicable) | + | n.a. | |
| Interpretative style (ref: descriptive style) | n.a. | + | |
| No detectable positioning (ref: neutral) | n.a. | − | |
| Critical positioning (ref: neutral) | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Advertorial positioning (ref: neutral) | n.a. | − | |
| Multimodality | Photography attached (ref: no photo) | − | n.a. |
| Audio/visual elements (ref: no audio/visuals) | − | n.a. | |
| News topic (ref: “other” incl. weather) | Politics | n.a. | n.a. |
| Economy | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Social issues | − | n.a. | |
| Sports | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Accidents | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Culture | − | + | |
| Entertainment | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Science/tech. | n.a. | + | |
| Media | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Environment | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Crime | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Lifestyle/health | + | n.a. | |
| War/conflict | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Geographical scope (ref: local) | Unable to identify geographical scope | + | n.a. |
| Regional | n.a. | n.a. | |
| National | n.a. | n.a. | |
| International | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Temporality (ref: current) | Unable to identify temporality | n.a. | n.a. |
| Past | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Future | n.a. | n.a. | |
| Framing | Individual (ref: not applicable) | − | n.a. |
| Social (ref: not applicable) | − | n.a. | |
| Thematic (ref: episodic) | n.a. | + | |
| Citizen contribution (ref: no contribution) | − | n.a. | + |
| Gender of author (ref: woman) | Unable to identify author gender | n.a. | − |
| Man | − | − | |
| Man and woman | − | n.a. | |
| Civic engagement-index | − | − | n.a. |
| Original news story (ref: not original news) | − | − | n.a. |
[i] Comments: Table C3 provides an overview of the different regressions. If the news characteristic is marked with a minus sign ( − ), there is a significant negative correlation, and if the news characteristic is marked with a plus sign ( + ), there is a significant positive correlation; “n.a.” means that there was no explanatory strength in any of the regressions. Note that a plus sign in the binary regression is indicative of being a dud. Thus, when there is a minus sign in the binary regression, it is shared more. Observe that it is only “culture” that behaves coherently between the different regressions, where a minus sign in the binary regression indicates that it is not a dud, while a plus in the linear regression demonstrates that it is positively correlated with sharing.
Table C4
Characteristics of news that are not shared, shared a few times, and shared many times (linear patterns)
| Content variable | Duds (non-shared) | Squibs (Shared 1–10) | Hits (Shared 10+) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous rise (Rise) | Photography, yes | 66 | 73** | 80†††, * |
| Emotional (c.f. Unemotional) | 38 | 44* | 70***, ††† | |
| Origin: own journo | 67 | 73* | 86***, ††† | |
| No change (Flatline) – 9 cases | Jour positioning advertorial | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Origin: Mix of jour+agency | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Origin: partner | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Topic: Accidents/disaster | 6 | 5 | 5 | |
| Topic: Crime | 11 | 12 | 9 | |
| Topic: war/conflict | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
| Topic: Others | 7 | 5 | 6 | |
| Topic: Science/tech | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Topic: Entertainment | 10 | 12 | 10 | |
| Continuous decline (Fall) | None |
Comments: Table C4 shows the percentages of different content properties that are either unshared, shared few times, or shared many times, linear patterns (per cent rounded). All significant values have been measured with Cramer's V. Significance values are reported with asterisks when the values are compared to the column to the left of the column with asterisks. They are reported with crosses when the two outer columns are compared. The number of news items used varies due to internal dropout in the different variables, but the approximate values are as follows: unshared (n =1,600); shared 1–10 times (n = 440); shared 100+ times (n = 410).
Table C5
Characteristics of news that are not shared, shared a few times, and shared many times (non-linear patterns)
| Spreading pattern | Content variable | Duds (Non-shared) | Squibs (Shared 1–10) | Hits (Shared 100+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rise then no change (Upper plateau) | News with focus on present | 77 | 84** | 79 |
| Rise then decline (Hump) | Audio, yes | 4 | 12*** | 4*** |
| International news | 31 | 44*** | 35** | |
| No change then rise (Hook) | Civic news index variables: | |||
| Societal actors present | 10 | 12 | 24***, ††† | |
| Decision making authorities present | 16 | 19 | 30***, ††† | |
| Policy plan present | 11 | 13 | 21***, ††† | |
| Actors concerned present | 6 | 7 | 16***, ††† | |
| Social framing (c.f. individual) | 33 | 36 | 46**, ††† | |
| Thematic framing (c.f. episodic) | 18 | 19 | 32***, ††† | |
| Personal (c.f. impersonal) | 30 | 31 | 44***, ††† | |
| Negative tonality (c.f. pos. or n.a.) | 16 | 19 | 38***, ††† | |
| Interpretive style (c.f. descriptive) | 33 | 36 | 47***, ††† | |
| Jour positioning critical | 5 | 6 | 20***, ††† | |
| National news | 27 | 24 | 43***, ††† | |
| Origin: other | 3 | 3 | 6*, ††† | |
| Citizen contribution | 1 | 1 | 3*, ††† | |
| Topic: Politics | 12 | 14 | 20*, ††† | |
| Topic: Media | 2 | 1 | 2* | |
| Topic: Environment | 1 | 2 | 4*, ††† | |
| Topic: Culture | 5 | 5 | 8†† | |
| Topic: Social issues | 7 | 7 | 10† | |
| News with historical focus | 8 | 9 | 11† | |
| Gender of author: Male | 36 | 40 | 47*, ††† | |
| Gender of author: Female | 30 | 31 | 38*, ††† | |
| Gender of author: Both | 2 | 2 | 7***, ††† | |
| No change then decline (Dip) | Jour positioning neutral | 92 | 91 | 77***, ††† |
| n.a. tonality (c.f. neg. or pos.) | 68 | 69 | 46***, ††† | |
| Local news | 31 | 27 | 18**, ††† | |
| Regional news | 4 | 3 | 1† | |
| News with future focus | 5 | 3 | 3† | |
| Origin: Agency | 15 | 12 | 3***, ††† | |
| Origin: n.a. | 11 | 8 | 1***, ††† | |
| Topic: business | 6 | 5 | 3† | |
| Topic: Sports | 14 | 15 | 8***, ††† | |
| Topic: Weather | 1 | 1 | 0* | |
| Gender of author: n.a. | 32 | 27 | 8***, ††† | |
| Decline than rise (Dim-ple) | Video, yes | 13 | 7*** | 17†, *** |
| Decline then no change (Lower plateau) | Positive tonality (c.f. neg. or n.a.) | 17 | 13* | 16 |
| News without geographical ID | 7 | 3*** | 3††† | |
| News without time ID | 10 | 4*** | 7 | |
| Topic: Lifestyle, fitness | 12 | 8* | 8† |
Comments: Table C5 shows the percentages of different content properties that are either unshared, shared few times, or shared many times, non-linear patterns (per cent rounded). All significant values have been measured with Cramer's V. Significance values are reported with asterisks when the values are compared to the column to the left of the column with asterisks. They are reported with crosses when the two outer columns are compared. The number of news items used varies due to internal dropout in the different variables, but the approximate values are as follows: unshared (n =1,600); shared 1–10 times (n = 440); shared 100+ times (n = 410).