Content analysis, 4,000 headlines, eight outlets
Media studies research poster example
A media studies research poster has to show how its texts were sampled and coded before any change over time means anything. This A0 landscape example reports a fictional content analysis of 4,000 news headlines, 2,000 from 2016 and 2,000 from 2026, with the method as a five step chain, one chart of question headlines by outlet, a headline stat and checked points.
The whole board
The poster at full size, exactly as it prints. Every number, citation and caption on it was written for this example, so the layout is being judged on real content.
Block by block
What each block on the board is for, in the order a reader walks it.
- Title band and two authors
- The title gives the corpus and the two measures: four thousand headlines, ten years apart, question form and emotion words in 2016 and 2026. Two authors share one school affiliation. Naming the sample size and both years in the title means a reader knows the scale of the comparison before reading any number.
- Introduction: why headlines, why these years
- The introduction makes the causal argument the study tests. A headline is the part of a story written for a distribution system rather than a reader. In 2016 referring traffic came mostly from a social feed that rewarded sharing; by 2026 it comes from a search and recommendation layer that rewards a match to a typed question. If incentives shape language, headlines should ask more questions and carry more emotion words.
- How the study ran: a five step chain
- The method is a numbered chain rather than a paragraph. Draw the sample, 250 headlines from each of eight outlets per year. Select every twentieth headline from the front section archive, so no editor chose the sample. Code question form, emotion words from a fixed 320 word list, length and person named. Double code all 4,000, with a Krippendorff alpha of 0.86. Compare years with exact intervals and per outlet shares.
- Figure 1: question headlines by outlet
- A bar chart gives each of the eight anonymised outlets its own bar for the 2026 sample, labelled O1 to O8, with a ninth bar for the pooled figure. The caption carries the key, so the axis labels stay to two characters and remain readable at a metre. It shows spread across outlets, which is what rules out a single outlet driving the result.
- The headline stat and key finding
- One stat block reads 19 percent of 2026 headlines are questions, with a detail line giving 8 percent in 2016 and the counts, 380 and 160 of 2,000 each year. The counts divide to the printed shares. A key finding callout repeats the rise and adds that every one of the eight outlets rose.
- Checked points
- Four points close the board: question headlines at 8 percent in 2016 and 19 in 2026, emotion words per headline up from 0.4 to 1.1, headlines 1.8 words longer on average, and all eight outlets moving the same way across the 4,000 headlines. The results block gives the same figures, with the 9.8 to 11.6 word means behind the 1.8 word rise.
- Abstract, results and discussion
- The abstract states the question, the sample, the two changes tested and the result in four sentences. The results block gives all three measures in two lines: question headlines from 8 to 19 percent, emotion words from 0.4 to 1.1, and length from 9.8 to 11.6 words. The discussion sets the limits, headlines rather than stories and two sampled years, and ends with an author and year line for the three citations, because this layout has no reference block.
- How to adapt this board
- Keep the five step chain for any content analysis: sample, selection rule, code frame, reliability and comparison. Put your main share in the stat block with its counts, chart the spread across sources, and move secondary measures into the checked points. If you need several measures side by side for two periods, a comparison table layout is the better starting board.
What makes this board work
The method is a sequence you can check
Five numbered steps take a reader from the sampling frame to the comparison in the order the work was done. Content analysis posters are attacked on sampling first, and the selection rule, every twentieth headline, answers before anyone asks.
The stat carries its counts
The 19 percent block prints 380 and 160 of 2,000 underneath, so both shares can be checked by division. A share with no denominator is the first thing a reviewer questions on a media studies board.
The figure shows spread, not just the mean
Eight outlet bars and a pooled bar show that the rise is not one masthead's habit. That spread is what lets the key finding say every outlet rose, a stronger claim than a pooled average alone can make.
Questions people ask
What goes on a media studies research poster?
The corpus and how it was sampled, the code frame, the number of coders and the reliability statistic, the comparison you are making, and the spread behind any average. Content analysis is judged on sampling and reliability, so both belong on the board. This one puts them in a five step chain and prints the alpha of 0.86 in step four.
How do I show a sampling method as steps?
Use a numbered chain with one verb per step: draw, select, code, double code, compare. Each step gets a short line with its number, such as 250 headlines per outlet per year or every twentieth headline. The chain on this layout has room for five steps, so merge anything smaller into the step it belongs to.
Should I name the outlets on the poster?
Only if your licence allows it and naming matters to the argument. Here the point is that all eight moved, so they are anonymised as O1 to O8 and the caption keys them. Anonymising also keeps axis labels short enough to read at a metre, and it stops the discussion turning into a ranking of mastheads.
Where do citations go when a poster has no reference block?
In a short line of their own at the foot of the introduction or discussion, author and year only, with the full list behind a printed link. This board ends its discussion with Okoro and Vance 2025, Rahimi 2024 and Lindgren 2026, which keeps the abstract for the question, method, result and meaning.
How do I report two periods without a comparison table?
Lead with the one share that carries the story in a stat block, with both periods and their counts in the detail line, then list the secondary measures as checked points. This board does that with 19 against 8 percent in the stat and the emotion word and length changes in the points below it.
How do I check intercoder reliability before printing?
Report one agreement statistic on the final code frame, say how many items were double coded, and give the value. This board says all 4,000 headlines were coded twice with a Krippendorff alpha of 0.86. If some categories fell below your threshold, name them in the discussion rather than pooling them into one figure.
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