7. SENSATIONAL FORMS
PERSONALIZATION
LISTICLES
FORWARD REFERENCING
SOFT NEWS
“Foodini' machine lets you print edible burgers, pizza, chocolate” (CNN)
“Reading on a screen before bed might be killing you” (The Huffington Post).
“21 classic NYC spots that closed forever in 2014” (Buzzfeed)
“25 of the best clubs in Europe, chosen by the experts” (The Guardian)
“Why most Americans oppose gun control” (Fox News)
“This is what happens to your body when you’re embarrassed” (Buzzfeed)
Non-time sensitive, feature-like story
8. TEXT
METHODS
▸Quantitative Content Analysis (N=597)
▸NewsWhip data collection to identify the most viral news
from 2014 (measured by likes, shares and comments from
Facebook)
▸Coded for presence of sensational forms
10. Presence of Sensational Forms in Viral News by Outlet Type
59.4
29.7
9.1
59.4
2 8 5
51
0
15
30
45
60
75
Listicles Personalization Forward Referencing Soft News
Digital Native Traditional
11. 6 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW….
1. Traditional News Organizations are more likely than Digital News
Organizations to get audience interaction on “hard” news.
2. Viral news production is about disseminating content that is
relatable and narratively written.
3. Sensationalism is not all doom and gloom.
4. Digitally native news organizations are more likely to employ
successfully all sensational forms (listicles, personalization,
forward-referencing and soft news).
5. Audiences may expect and prefer different news formats from
news organizations based on brand and platform identity.
6. There is a significant relationship between sensational form and
potential virality.
