Social media as a source of political news : a look at how players in local news organisations and politics view the role of social media in obtaining political news

Abstract

The study investigates the use of social media platforms as a source of political news by examining how individuals in local journalism and politics perceive this in the transition from traditional media to new media. News consumption has changed completely in comparison to pre-satellite news diffusion, when people waited for their morning newspapers, radio broadcast or evening television news. The internet has changed the way in which information is disseminated. The present research analyses the social media platforms in relation to the political arena and the news. An online survey aimed at the Maltese general public, and in-depth interviews with local academics, politicians, journalists, and the government’s media coordinators were conducted. Findings demonstrate that social media is highly used to share, post and gather information such as political news. Through the study conducted, social media is regarded as a tool were users can gather and share information, as well as play a political role in which individual political parties publish information, that serves as a source of news for followers. The study carried out with the Maltese general public shows how social media is considered to be a platform were they gather and share information, even though some might not see it as credible as it should be due to the presence of political bias in the published news and information throughout the platform. This is an accepted and expected phenomenon due to its unique landscape and its legacy of mainstream media outlets directly owned by political parties However the necessity and need of social media has been made very clear by the participants, due to continuous technological development the world is facing.