International Hyperlinks in Online News Media

Cowls, J. & Bright, J. (2017) International hyperlinks in online news media. Chapter 5 in Brügger, N. & Schroeder, R. (eds) The Web as History. London: UCL Press. pp.101-116.

16 Pages Posted: 12 Jun 2017

See all articles by Josh Cowls

Josh Cowls

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Jonathan Bright

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Date Written: June 9, 2017

Abstract

This chapter investigates outlinking practices in the news media, whereby online news organisations place links to third party websites within their news articles. Such links are an important secondary feature of online news which add background and context to a story, offering readers the possibility of going direct to the source in many cases. However they remain an understudied phenomenon.

Our particular focus is on international outlinks: links which go to a website in a different country. International news coverage is an important topic of research interest in communication studies, with many scholars trying to determine why some countries receive disproportionately more news coverage than others, creating an imbalance in the minds of readers about which countries are more or less important. International outlinks have the potential to correct such an imbalance, by providing first hand coverage of countries all around the world. But they also have the potential to perpetuate it, if these outlinks are themselves applied selectively.

Based on a large scale dataset of news articles taken from BBC News Online over an eleven year period, this article finds that more populous countries receive more outlinks, as do more peaceful ones. Countries which have English as a primary or official language and countries which have a high level of internet penetration also receive more links. All of these factors take into account diverging levels of news coverage of countries.

Suggested Citation

Cowls, Josh and Bright, Jonathan, International Hyperlinks in Online News Media (June 9, 2017). Cowls, J. & Bright, J. (2017) International hyperlinks in online news media. Chapter 5 in Brügger, N. & Schroeder, R. (eds) The Web as History. London: UCL Press. pp.101-116. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2983738 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2983738

Josh Cowls

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

Jonathan Bright (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 3PG Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

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