Social Media as News Sources― A Content Analysis of the Use of SinaWeibo and WeChat as Sources in Chinese Newspapers

Abstract

Social media have emerged as sources of news for people and news leads for journalist. Although there are lots of studies on social media, scholars have not reach consensus on how important they are as sources for traditional journalism. This study aims to assess the role of social media (Sina Weibo and WeChat in particular) as sources in Chinese newspaper coverage. Four Chinese daily newspapers were content analyzed for this purpose. Findings indicate that social media play a limited role as sources in newspaper coverage, and their usage as sources differs by newspaper and news type. Additionally, although social media broaden the range of sources to a certain degree, they do not overturn the principle of ‘hierarchy of credibility’.