Abstract
Purpose: News research scholars define immediacy as constant news updating, whereas scholars in other fields conceptualize it more broadly as meaning closeness. The present study explicates the concept of immediacy and proposes a multidimensional notion of news immediacy that reflects physical and psychological closeness to the news. Design/methodology/approach: A scale for measuring multifaceted immediacy was developed and tested in a between-subjects design experiment. Four dimensions were extracted from the analysis: transportation, involvement, vividness and timeliness. Findings: The results reveal greater immediacy in online than print news contexts. Involvement is key to the experience of immediacy in both contexts; yet the feeling of being transported to the places of the news events was stronger among online than print news users. The latter relied more on vividness of the news presentation to attain closeness to the news. Originality/value: Implications of the study were discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 461-480 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Online Information Review |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 9 Dec 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Mar 2021 |
Funder
Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS) by Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. Grant no: 203/PCOMM/6730126.Keywords
- Immediacy
- News consumption
- Online news
- Presence
- Print news
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Information Systems
- Computer Science Applications
- Library and Information Sciences