From Journalism to Churnalism: the websites of Top Chanel, Vizion Plus and Klan televisions

Abstract

Political news prevail in Top Channel, Klan and Vizion Plus televisions news edition. The journalist‟s main sources are PR offices of the political parties, administration or government. The TV chronicles are pre-packaged and have almost the same footage and information. What makes a difference are the reporting nuances imposed by the editorial policies. Taking in consideration this submission, the question is how does the TV websites function? Are they considered as extension of this traditional media or they are conceived and function as purely online media? Are this websites oriented by the audience interest, online traffic or do they follow the same editorial policies? Do they have advertorial content? What about churnalism – the amount of the press releases, wire stories and pre-packaged materials used to create articles in these websites? This research is based on news stories published in the three main television websites; interviews with the editors in chief of these online media; audience overview based on the statistics of the “Traffic estimate” website; and some of the main contemporary authors of communication, online and social media.