The Death of Osama bin Laden: News Diffusion and the Role of New Media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58997/smc.v29i1.67Abstract
A survey concerning the diffusion of information about the death of Osama bin Laden was administered to 324 undergraduate students at a university in the Southwest United States. Results of the survey indicated that a majority, 59.6%, of the participants indicated that they first heard of bin Laden’s death through a new media source (text message, internet news site, or social networking site), and a significant number, 40.4%, indicated that they had first heard the news through a social networking site. Within the matter of a few hours of the first media coverage of bin Laden’s death, 80% of respondents had heard the news. While new media played an important role in diffusion of information about bin Laden’s death, face-to-face communication was most often used by those who reported sharing the news about bin Laden’s death. Results of the current study seem to support that there were some differences between participants’ use of media to get information on bin Laden’s death based on gender and race/ethnicity.
References
Danielson, W. A. (1956). Eisenhower's February decision: A study of news impact. Journalism Quarterly, 33 (Fall), 433-441.
Deutschmann, P. J. & Danielson, W. A. (1960). Diffusion of knowledge of the major news story. Journalism Quarterly, 37, 345-355.
France, L. R. (May 2, 2011). President Obama interrupts Trump's show. In The Marquee Blogg. Retrieved May 2, 2011, from http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/president-obamainterrupts-trumps-show/.
Glascock, J., & King, L. J. (2007). The Columbia shuttle breakup: News diffusion comparison of a local and distant location. Communication Research Reports, 24(3), 205-213.
Greenberg, B. S., Cohen, E., & Li, H. (2003). How the U.S. found out about the war. In W. Gantz & B. S. Greenberg (Eds.), Desert Storm and the mass media (pp. 145-152). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Greenberg, B. S., Hofschire, L., & Lachlan, K. (2002). Diffusion, media use and interpersonal communication behaviors. In B. S. Greenberg (Ed.), Communication and terrorism: Public and media responses to 9/11 (pp. 3-16). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Hernandez, B. A. (May 2, 2011). Timeline: How news of Osama bin Laden’s death unfolded on Twitter. In Marshable US & World. Retrieved May 2, 2011, from http://mashable.com/2011/05/02/osama-death-twitter/.
Jones, S. (January 28, 2009). Generations online in 2009. In Pew Research Center Publication. Retrieved May 2, 2011, from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1093/generations-online. News Diffusion and the Role of New Media
Larsen, O. N., & Hill, R. J. (1954). Mass media and interpersonal communication in the diffusion of a news event. American Sociological Review, 19 (4), 426-433.
Livingston, G. (February 9, 2011). Latinos and digital technology, 2010. In Pew Research Center: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved June 25, 2012, from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/02/09/iv-home-broadband-access/.
Mayer, M. E., Gudykunst, W. B., Perrill, N. K., & Merrill, B. D. (1990). A comparison of competing models of the news diffusion process. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 54(1), 113-123.
Miller, D. C. (1945). A research note on mass communication. American Sociology Review, 10 (5), 691-694.
Nielsen. (June 28, 2011). Nielsen Releases Women of Tomorrow Report. In Nielsen. Retrieved June 28, 2011, from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reportsdownloads/2011/a-study-of-women-around-the-world.html.
Obama, B. (May 1, 2011). Remarks by the President on Osama bin Laden. In The White House President Barack Obama. Retrieved May 1, 2011, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/thepress-office/2011/05/02/remarks-president-osama-bin-laden.
Odell, P. M., Korgen, K. O., Schumacher, P., & DeLucchi, M. (2000). Internet use among female and male college students. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3(5), 855-862.
Rogers, E. M. (2000). Reflections on news event diffusion research. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77, 561-576.
Ruggiero, T. & Glascock, J. (2002). Tracking media use and gratifications. In B. S. Greenberg (Ed.), Communication and terrorism: Public and media responses to 9/11 (pp. 65-74). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Stelter, B. (May 1, 2011). How the bin Laden announcement leaked out. In The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2011, from http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/howthe-osama-announcement-leaked-out/.
Webster, T. (April 29, 2010). Twitter usage in America: 2010. In Edison Research: Perspectives, News & Opinions From the Researchers at Edison. Retrieved June 25, 2012, from http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/2010/04/twitter_usage_in_america_2010_ 1.php.
