Regional newspapers’ sourcing strategies: Changes in media-citation and self-citation from a longitudinal perspective

Abstract

In the light of profound transformation processes shaping news media markets during the last decade, in particular local and regional news markets are confronted with consolidation and concentration processes. As a result, newspaper organizations are required to adapt their organizational strategies and editorial routines to face these challenges. Among journalistic routines, the use of sources is a prime example for an analysis of changing patterns in news production. This article investigates regional newspaper’s use of self- and media-citations in a longitudinal design (1995, 2006, 2015). Based on a content analysis of German regional newspapers (N = 4713 articles), we illustrate changing patterns in the use of sources over a period of 20 years. Results point to an increase in other media outlets as sources indicative of an eligible and cheap content sourcing strategy. Self-citation is mainly used in articles that cover regional and local events mirroring the core business of local news media.