Changing sourcing practices: Journalists’ use of Facebook in Croatia

Abstract

With the rise of social media, media professionals have got more information sources now than ever before. An interesting phenomenon is the use of social media posts with political content as political news sources in traditional media in Croatia. This article explores the use of Facebook posts as political information source in eight news media. Its main objective is to contribute to the understanding of the impact of social media on news production and journalistic practices and the implications on the relationship between the source, journalists and news consumers in the news production cycle. The results show how this new practice has brought novelties and changes in news sourcing techniques, influenced the public agenda and impacted the use of Facebook by political actors. One of our main findings shows that sourcing Facebook posts shifts the power balance from journalist towards the source. The article concludes that although journalistic practice has changed with the use of social media, elite sources are still dominant.