News-ness and Hybridity of News: What Audiences Consider News in Ghana
Abstract
Today's information
ecosystem generates a news media landscape that is multi-faceted and open
beyond the traditional news-democracy narrative. Using an audience-centered
approach in a survey of 419 respondents, we examined the types of media messages
audiences characterize as news and the rating of news-ness of news outlets.
Regarding media content, breaking news was the highest rated for news-ness,
followed by fact-checking. News stories infused with humor, outrage, and
satirical angles were rated high, implying some hybrid news content in the
Ghanaian media environment. Moreover, audiences' assessment of news sources
indicates well-known legacy news organizations receiving the highest news-ness
rating, after which well-known partisan sources came. Unfamiliar sources were
rated low. The implication is that audiences are conscious of fake news in
their news sources.