Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Flow of Digital News in a Network of Sources, Authorities, and Hubs

This article presents an analysis of the flow of information in a network of online news sites. Social network theory and research on hyperlinked networks of Web pages are used to develop a model of information flow among Web sites. Kleinberg’s authority-hub model is extended by introducing sources of information in the network. Significant support was found for a Source–Authority–Hub model, which shows the source, directionality, routing, and destination of news information flow through a network of authorities and hubs. This model demonstrates the ability of keyWeb sites to control the flow of news and information. Applications of the model to over-time data have the potential to predict future changes in the online news industry. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01596.x Online news first appeared in the mid-1990s when news articles were reprinted from traditional papers onto the Internet, primarily through Usenet groups (Cohen, 2002). The Internet has continued to grow as a news medium, and as of 2008 the Web replaced print as a primary medium for day-to-day news among young adults (Kohut, 2008). It is apparent, however, that as the news industry transforms fro