Het nieuws in 140 karakters

The development of the internet and the coming of social media have led to changes in the media landscape. The boundaries between producers and users blurred media conglomerates lose their privilege. The focus of this study is on the social medium Twitter. This research aim to map the implementation of Twitter in the production of news and the satisfaction and use of this medium among consumers. In order to investigate this, three studies took place. First there has been an analysis of the tweets that 24 national en international online news producers placed. The focal point was the way news producers communicate through Twitter. After that four journalists were interviewed, wherein they asked about the way they use Twitter in their activities. The third study was a survey among the followers of a news producer. In this survey the followers were asked about the way they use Twitter and if they are satisfied by the way news producers use it. All of the studies were based on a academic framework. The results from the analysis of the tweets showed that there are fourteen ways in which online news producers communicate via their twitteraccount. They mainly use Twitter to distribute news headlines. Most of the tweets news producers have send, were placed manual. The journalists have integrated Twitter in their activities. The medium is used to find sources, to verify facts en to spread the news. The way how journalists use Twitter is quite traditional. Their approach is: ‘same values, new tools’. Journalists see Twitter as a new useful source, but don’t use it to get in contact with their audience. The results of the survey showed that the followers use Twitter mainly to read tweets from others (consume). They are satisfied by the way the news producers use it, because the users aim that Twitter is the right media canal to consume news. Beside that the user point out they would to see more interaction with the news producers via Twitter.