Audience engagement in “embitterment” news: Analyzing the emotional correlation function in South Korean news coverage

The correlation function of mass communication involves both cognitive and emotional domains. Considering that the correlation function at an emotional domain has rarely been examined, this study investigates how a specific emotion embedded in news content, embitterment, is associated with audience engagement. About 460 news articles were extracted from seven Korean newspapers; those containing the word "embitterment" and the number of comments attached to each story were analyzed. Specifically, the quantitative measure of audience engagement was predicted by the subject and source of embitterment. The analysis revealed that "politicians," as the source of embitterment, elicited the most frequent audience engagement; this was measured by the numbers of audience comments. More comments were posted on "embitterment" news by liberal newspapers as well. When the audience response was not considered, the "government" was the most frequent source of embitterment, while the general public was the most salient group among embittered subjects. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the correlation function of communication, and in the context of audience engagement studies.