  This study examines the use of embedded tweets in online news media. In
particular, we add to the previous literature by exploring embedded tweets
across reliable and unreliable news outlets. We use a mixed-method analysis to
examine how the function and frequency of embedded tweets change across outlet
reliability and news topic. We find that, no matter the outlet reliability,
embedded tweets are most often used to relay the opinions of elites, to
syndicate information from another news source, or to self-cite information an
outlet previously produced. Our results also show some notable differences
between reliable media and fringe media's use of tweets. Namely, fringe media
embed tweets more and use those tweets as the source of news more than reliable
media. Our work adds to the literature on hybrid media systems and the
normalization of social media in journalism.
