Types of Media Outlets (Formats and Genre)

“Types of media outlets”, often referred to as “media type” or “medium type”, is a variable that is widely used for content analyses of news media. The variable indicates which media outlets share certain characteristics. Grouping media outlets to media types ultimately helps reveal patterns and implications beyond the individual case of a specific outlet. Field of application/Theoretical foundation: The variable can be used for content analyses of print, broadcast or online media. It takes the form of a formal variable, with an underlying theoretical construct. As such, it provides important context information of the analyzed content. It is sometimes also labelled as “format” in research (cf. https://www.hope.uzh.ch/doca/article/view/2638; also Schwaiger Freudenthaler “mass market” websites or “upmarket” websites: Hopmann, 2017), ownership and regulation structures (e.g., public or private TV news: Strömbäck outlets owned by a company traded on the stock market or by a privately held company: Benson et al., 2018), the relation to political actors and/or political leaning (e.g., newspapers “left of center” or “right of center”: Hopmann et al., 2017; “mainstream” or “alternative media”: Reinemann et al., 2024). Often, researchers use a combination of classification criteria (e.g., regional private TV news: fög, 2023 or Seethaler, 2015). Sometimes, researchers even compare different criteria and use them as factors to test which of those have an impact on the content – for instance whether differences within the group of newspapers are larger than between newspapers and TV news (Strömbäck & van Aelst, 2010). Codebook example: Oehmer et al. (2020) Medium Operationalization Studies Cross-media Öffentliches Radio (Public broadcaster: radio) Öffentliches Fernsehen (Public broadcaster: TV) SRG-SSR Online (öffentlich) (Public broadcaster: online) Privatfernsehen (Private TV) Abonnementszeitungen (Subscription newspapers) Abonnementszeitungen-Online (Subscription newspapers online) Sonntagszeitungen/Magazine (Sunday papers / magazines) Online Pure (Online pure player) Pendlerzeitungen (Commuter papers) Pendlerzeitungen-Online (Commuter papers online) Boulevardzeitungen (Tabloid papers) Boulevardzeitungen-Online (Tabloid papers online) fög (2023) Cross-media Kauftageszeitungen (Paid-for daily papers) Gratistageszeitungen (Cost-free daily papers) Überregionale öffentlich-rechtliche Radiosender (Supra-regional radio programs by the public broadcaster) Überregionaler Privatradiosender (Supra-regional radio programs by private broadcasters) Regionale öffentlich-rechtliche Radiosender (Regional radio programs by the public broadcaster) Regionale Privatradiosender (Regional radio programs by private broadcasters) Überregionale öffentlich-rechtliche Fernsehsender (Supra-regional TV programs by the public broadcaster) Überregionale Privatfernsehsender (Supra-regional TV programs by private broadcasters) Branchenspezifische Online-Anbieter (Online news providers from the media industry) Branchenfremder Anbieter (Online news providers from outside the media industry) Seethaler (2015) Cross-media Abonnement-Online (Subscription newspapers online) Boulevard/ Pendler-Online (Tabloid papers / Commuter papers online) Sonntagszeitungen/ Magazine (Sunday papers / magazines) Öffentlicher Rundfunk (Public service broadcaster) Eisenegger et al. (2020)Codebook: Oehmer et al. (2020) Cross-media Stock market traded Stock market traded with dominant shareholder Privately held Civil Society Public (Both “legacy” outlets (TV, radio, print) and “digital-only” outlets were selected.) Benson et al. (2018) Cross-media Mainstream news outlets: Broadsheet daily national newspapers (online editions) Tabloid newspaper (online edition) News magazines (online editions) Regional newspapers (both print and online) Web provider National TV newscasts Most-watched TV special (during the pandemic) Alternative news outlets: (two outlets selected based on reach data) Reinemann et al. (2024) Cross-media Newspapers: Upmarket (left of center) Upmarket (right of center) Mass-market Television, news bulletin: Public Commercial Websites: Upmarket Hopmann et al. (2017) TV & Print “Media types”: Commercial TV news Public service TV news Tabloid newspaper Quality newspaper “Media channels”: TV news Newspapers Strömbäck & van Aelst (2010) Print National Regional Weekly (Tabloids were explicitly excluded.) Umbricht & Esser (2016) TikTok(news organizations) Digital Native Press TV channel TV programme Radio & Television Vázquez-Herrero et al. (2022) References: Benson, R., Neff, T., & Hessérus, M. (2018). Media ownership and public service news: how strong are institutional logics? The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(3), 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218782740 Boukes, M., Jones, N. P., & Vliegenthart, R. (2022). Newsworthiness and story prominence: How the presence of news factors relates to upfront position and length of news stories. Journalism, 23(1), 98-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884919899313 Eisenegger, M., Oehmer, F., Udris, L., & Vogler, D. (2020). Die Qualität der Medienberichterstattung zur Corona-Pandemie. 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