Methodology

One of the aims of the Yearbook Quality of the Media is to measure and compare the quality of the Swiss media with the highest reach. For this purpose, a quality score is assigned to each news outlet, ranging between 0  = very low quality and 10  = very high quality. The quality scoring serves as a benchmark and makes it possible to describe and analyze different journalistic performances.

Four quality dimensions, which are widely anchored in academic research and journalistic practice, are decisive for high-quality reporting:  relevance, diversity, contextualization and professionalism.

The Yearbook Quality of the Media benefits from its multi-method design. Relevant research questions are answered with four methods:

1. Content analysis 

2. Surveys 

3. Structural analyses 

4. Social media analyses 

Manual content analysis and automated text analysis (1) make it possible to comparatively examine the quality and other characteristics of Swiss media coverage. Quantitative surveys (2) provide information on changing preferences in media use, on trust in the media and on the perception of quality among the Swiss population. Secondary data sources (3) help us to better understand the contextual factors in the Swiss media system, clarifying information about resources, ownership and concentration processes. Social media analyses (4) answer how successfully Swiss media communicate via the new channels through which communities are formed. In short: Who talks where with whom about what?

More about the methodology (in German) and the understanding of quality (in German) of the Yearbook Quality of the Media.