Pre-Internet Versus Post-Internet News Content: The Case of the Chattanooga Times and Times Free Press

Abstract

This study examines the case of the 1986 Chattanooga Times and the 2006 Chattanooga Times Free Press, and aims to determine, through systematic research, how the content of that newspaper has changed between the pre-Internet and post-Internet eras. To answer those questions, the study measures six indicators of content: story length, links, graphical space, local coverage, types of stories and sectionalization. The data show that all those indicators have changed over the course of 20 years - some more dramatically than others - but generally in favor of busier, more "reader-friendly" content and less breaking news. In some cases the study suggests these changes tend to distinguish newspaper content from Internet content, while in others the change seems to make print news more like Internet news products.