The Unit of Analysis
This media content analysis will analyze all news items in selected newspapers, broadcast transcripts, web sites, magazine articles and blogs (exhaustive list and search procedures are described below). The content analysis will focus on items that have an explicit or implicit in-group/out-group perspective of the phenomenon “Black Twitter.” For an item to be included in this sample, it must contain at least one phrase or sentence that refers to “Black Twitter,” or Twitter use among Blacks/African-Americans.
The content analysis uses a sample of news media published between 2010 and 2013,
including texts selected from mainstream and niche publications. Keyword searches using the Boolean operators “Black Twitter” and “#BlackTwitter” of four electronic databases:
America’s News, Lexis Nexis News, Alt-Press Watch and Ethnic News Watch, will be used to search for results in the top 10 U.S. newspapers ranked according to daily print and digital circulation by the Alliance for Audited Media (Lulofs, 2013). As of March 2013, these newspapers, listed in order of print circulation size beginning with the largest circulation, include: The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Post, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Daily News, Newsday and The Denver Post. The newspapers, listed in order of digital circulation size beginning with the largest circulation include: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Post, The Denver Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Newark Star- Ledger, The New York Daily News, Newsday and The Houston Chronicle.
Coding Sheet
Coder No. Item No.
Today’s date: Headline:
Subhead (if any):
Author(s) name(s)/Byline: Publication:
Publication date:
1. What is the document’s source type? Circle one of the following:
1= Newspaper 2= Broadcast/news transcript 3= Web Publication
4= Web blog 5= Other 6 = None
7 = Cannot be determined 2. What is the document type? Circle one of the following: 1 = news 2 = commentary/opinion/editorial 3 = article 4 = feature 5 = general information 6 = blog 7 = review
8 = other 9 = blurb (fewer than 200 words) 10 = cannot be determined
3. How many authors are there? Circle one of the following:
1 = Single author/contributor 2 = Two or more authors/contributors
3 = Anonymous 4 = No author credited
4. What is the publication type? Circle one of the following: 1 = Mainstream publication (general interest)
2 = Niche publication (mission, description or content reflects a target audience) 3 = Cannot be determined
5. Does the quoted material make an explicit reference to the term "digital divide"? Please indicate whether the term "digital divide" is used, and highlight the reference(s) on the document, annotating it with the code "QEDD
6. Does the quoted material make an implicit reference to the term "digital divide"? If yes, highlight the reference(s) on the document, annotating it with the code "QIDD."
7. How does the quoted material describe the number of blacks who are on Twitter? Where appropriate, please highlight the description of the number of blacks on Twitter in the document, annotating each one with the code, "QBoT."
8. Does the quoted material describe Twitter use among other racial or ethnic groups? If so, please highlight the reference(s) on the document annotating it with the code "QoGoT. 9. Does the quoted material explicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss African-Americans'/blacks' Twitter use? (Material must contain the phrase: "the black community,"/"black communities.") If so, please highlight each reference on the document, annotating it with "QEBSoC.
10. Does the quoted material implicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss African-Americans'/blacks' Twitter use? (Material should contain phrases such as: "groups," or "black users" or collective nouns such as "African-Americans"in reference to Twitter use among blacks) If so, please highlight each reference on the document, annotating it with "QIBSoC."
11. Does the quoted material explicitly use to a sense of community frame to discuss Twitter use among other racial/ethnic groups' Twitter use? (Material must contain phrases such as "the Asian community"/"the Latino community.")
12. Does the quoted material implicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss Twitter use among other racial/ethnic groups' Twitter use? (Material should contain phrases such as "Asians"/"Latino users.")
Does the item explicitly refer to "Black Twitter" in the quoted material of the body copy? 13. If yes, please highlight reach reference on the document, annotating it with "EQBT. Does the item implicitly refer to the idea of "Black Twitter" in the quoted material of the body copy? (i.e., How blacks use Twitter/blacks' Twitter use)
14. If yes, please highlight each reference on the document, annotating it with "IQBT." 15. How many times does the quoted material mention the phrase "Black Twitter, including in the headline and subhead"?
16. Who is speaking in the quoted material about blacks' use of/presence on Twitter? Please highlight each name, title and/or Twitter handle on the document, and annotate with the code “QSpeaker.”
17. Please complete this step for each speaker who discusses blacks use of/presence on Twitter in the text using “QSpeaker1” for the first speaker, and “QSpeaker2,” etc. for additional speakers. You may code each speaker in more than one category.
Does the nonquoted material make an explicit reference to the term "digital divide"?
18. Please indicate whether the term “digital divide” is used, and highlight the reference(s) on the document, annotating it with the code “NQEDD.”
19. Does the nonquoted material make an implicit reference to the digital divide? Please indicate whether the item includes a reference(s) to rates of Internet use and/or Internet access among blacks/African-Americans.
20. Does the nonquoted material the item describe the number of blacks who are on Twitter? 22. Does the nonquoted material describe Twitter use among other racial or ethnic groups? 23. Does the author, in nonquoted material, explicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss blacks’/African-Americans’ Twitter use (Text uses the phrase "the black
community"/"black communities").
24. Does the author, in nonquoted material, implicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss blacks’/African-Americans’ Twitter use (Coders should indicate yes for the presence of the words and phrases such as "groups," "black users" and collective nouns such as "African-Americans" or "blacks" in reference to Twitter use.
25. Does the author, in nonquoted material, explicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss other ethnic/racial groups Twitter use. Text uses the phrase the Latino/Latina
community, the Asian community.
26. Does the author, in nonquoted material, implicitly refer to a sense of community frame to discuss other ethnic/racial groups Twitter use? Material uses the phrase "Latinos"/"Asians." 27. Does the item make an explicit reference to the phrase “Black Twitter” in the nonquoted material of the body copy?
28. How many times does the nonquoted material mention the phrase “Black Twitter," including the main headline and subhead?
29. Does the item reference the creation of a blackspecific hashtag (i.e., the hashtagged phrase includes the word “black”)?
30. Does the item reference the creation of a nonblack, racespecific hashtag (i.e., the hashtagged phrase includes the word “white”)?
31. Does the item reference the creation of a specific hashtag that does not refer to race?