Utilizing Reddit for Journalistic Purposes: A Content Analysis of the Washington Post on Reddit

Abstract

Social media is an integral part of the journalism ecosystem for both reporting and distributing news content. One space in the social media landscape that is receiving new significant growth in the journalism sphere while having differences in its social media logic is Reddit. An organization that has dedicated resources to the usage of the platform, the Washington Post, is the focus of the current exploratory study to better understand how news brands are utilizing Reddit. This quantitative content analysis uses social media logic to examine the type of content that the Post shared and also considers the users’ responses to that content. Findings show that, despite a supposed emphasis on community building for news brands, the Post more heavily focused on distributing its own content. Additional findings include the importance of posting harder news on the platform instead of softer news for both Reddit score and comments and more.