The Chicago Community Trust
The rise of the internet, along with social media, has flipped the world of journalism on its head. Traditional news sites, which once dominated reporting and distribution, are now joined by thousands of local and start-up news sites and blogs. In order to investigate the impact these sites have on the news ecosystem of Chicago, Syndio Social was contracted by The Chicago Community Trust to map and measure the social networks of Chicago's news Ecosystem. Through hyperlink analysis, Syndio was able to discover and analyze the network of links that connect this vibrant community.The final report, which has been made public, can be viewed here: Linking Audiences to News: A Network Analysis of Chicago Websites
See below for the press release issued by The Chicago Community Trust:
For Release Tuesday June 28, 2011
Media Contacts:
Eva Penar evap@cct.org 312.616.8000 x 161
Rich Gordon richgor@northwestern.edu
(847) 467-5968
Chicago News and Information Websites are Surprisingly Isolated, New Study Finds
Most of the more than 400 news and information websites serving the Chicago region are isolated from one another and rarely receive links from or link to other sites, according to new research study released by The Chicago Community Trust.
Websites operated by traditional media, in particular, are unlikely to link to content on other local websites, the study found.
“It is surprising that so many good sites don’t take advantage of the Internet’s incredible linking capabilities,” said Prof. Rich Gordon of Northwestern University, one of the two co-authors of the study. “These sites could expand their audiences, influence and service to readers by linking more and by encouraging others to link to them.”
The study, Linking Audiences to News: A Network Analysis of Chicago Websites, was released Monday by The Chicago Community Trust. It was funded by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of the Trust’s Community News Matters program.
The study found that almost eight in 10 of the sites studied received few if any links from other sites, so that no matter how good their content, they are unlikely to be found by users unfamiliar with those sites.
Additionally, more than four in 10 sites did not link to any other Chicago sites, so they are not helping their audiences find relevant content published by other local Web publishers.
“Chicago’s rich variety of news and information sites can play an important role in helping satisfy the public’s need for news and information in this time of seismic changes in the news media,” said Ngoan Le, vice president for program of The Chicago Community Trust. “But this research makes clear that Chicago sites need to do more to make sure that people can find the information they need and want. “
The research was conducted by Gordon, who is a journalism professor at Northwestern’s Medill School, and Syndio Social, a consulting firm established by Northwestern engineering Professor Noshir Contractor, an expert on the structure and implications of networks. It is one of the first – perhaps the first – research projects seeking to understand a local news ecosystem by analyzing the way locally focused websites connect with one another through hyperlinks. The research report was written by Gordon and Zachary Johnson, CEO of Syndio Social.
The researchers suggested that people and organizations seeking a better informed community should find ways to encourage more linking among locally focused websites and that strategies should be developed for sites to share headline links more widely.
Researchers started with a list of local news and information websites and used software to “spider” the hyperlinks to and from these sites to identify additional sites. They ultimately identified 439 sites providing news and information in the Chicago area. The list includes not only sites operated by traditional media but also sites of independent web-only publishers, organizations and governmental agencies.
Other conclusions of the research:
- Sites that link more to other sites, or receive more links from them, are more important to the ecosystem than other sites.
- Sites that receive a lot of links include major sources of original news reporting such as chicagotribune.com as well as online-only publications such as gapersblock.com andchicagoist.com.
- The sites most likely to link out to others are those run by organizations and institutions (like the School of the Art Institute or University of Chicago) and online-only publications such as gapersblock.com.
- Sites operated by traditional media tend not to link out to other sites.
- Sites that give and receive links are clustered into content-oriented communities – for instance, sports, arts and restaurants – that link heavily among themselves but don’t get links from sites focusing on other content domains.
Since receiving initial results of the research last fall, the Trust has used it to help shape its strategy for improving the Chicago news ecosystem. The study may be found here:http://www.cct.org/sites/cct.org/files/CNM_LinkingAudiences_0611.pdf