Linards Udris

Abstract Many news media publish content on social media where it must meet the success factors of algorithmic selection in order to attract attention. One possible strategy for that is news softening. However, it is not clear which characteristics are decisive for news softening on social platforms. To help overcome this research gap, our paper adds a new concept called “social news softening” to the rather traditional news softening concept.

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Money and resources are key to producing quality news but a mission for quality is equally important according to a study comparing news coverage in different types of newspapers in two similar countries: Sweden and Switzerland. The study found that newspapers that aspired to publish excellent, ethical reporting were judged as higher quality than newspapers that prioritised earning higher profits or expanding audiences.