Up for a challenge? Digital practices of 24-hour news channels

Abstract

Nearly 35 years ago 24-hour global news channels proved to be the fast, efficient and popular way of news production and delivery. They re-defined television news and used to sell this product successfully until the spawn of digital era. However, today younger audience prefers to get their news mainly from digital sources. 24-hour news channels are facing the tough challenge, having to conquer the new ways of packaging and delivering the news. This study uses quantitative content analysis to explore the different practices some of the biggest global news channels are using on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The findings suggest that TV news powerhouses are abandoning video as their main specialty on digital platforms and mostly use traditional production formats to create the digital news product. We also come to conclusion that each platform is being used for different purposes: YouTube offers mainly the same content viewers would find on traditional TV; Facebook mainly drives traffic to the company web-site; and Instagram so far is the platform lacking clear content strategy, used for strengthening the brand rather than distributing news. The quality of some video materials offered by 24-hour news channels often does not meet conventional professional standards.