Verb objectivity and source qualification: Comparison of quotation attributions in offline and online newspapers

Abstract

This study explored the use of quotations in offline (the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal) and online ( Huffington Post and Newsmax) newspapers in terms of verb objectivity and source qualification (transparency and credibility). Individual analyses showed offline papers relatively focused more on verb objectivity, whereas online papers concentrated on source qualification. On analyzing verbs and sources together, the study found better journalistic performance in online papers. While offline papers employed verb objectivity as a sole standard for desirable quotation usage, online papers utilized source qualification and verb objectivity as leverages. More transparent-credible sources outnumbered less transparent-credible sources and objective verbs outnumbered unobjective verbs in online papers, but offline papers only had more objective than unobjective verbs and ignored desirable source use.