News Geography & Monopoly: the form of reports on US newspaper internet sites

Abstract

US newspapers that publish electronic editions on the internet do not appear to reinvent themselves online. Instead the web versions reproduce the substance of their print editions in a way that relates similarly to readers. Reaching stories online can be a process involving multiple screen jumps and scrolls but only a few stories have added features, such as hyperlinks to additional information, images, or interactive resources. Newspaper stories online differ very little from those printed in the originating newspapers. The internet versions do not usually add to or change the text of the stories, and their presentation is visually meagre, especially compared with print, which has a richer typographical range and presents many more images. The results suggest that print publishers use their internet presence as a low-cost place holder that guards their US market position and erects a barrier to the entry of geographical competitors and ideological alternatives in the US news arena.

Keywords:

• Internet
• Newspaper
• United States
• Web
• Format