User Comments and Moderation in Digital Journalism by Thomas B. Ksiazek Nina Springer

Author:Thomas B. Ksiazek, Nina Springer [Thomas B. Ksiazek, Nina Springer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367226428
Google: TRNMzQEACAAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-01-15T01:02:34+00:00

Comments as political action

Given the research findings on viewpoint diversity, it is reasonable to assume that some commenters take critical stances toward political institutions, the “mainstream society,” and the elite actors ruling it. For instance, in light of what was said about the overrepresentation of conservative stances among commenters (Chapter 2) and counterpublic comments (see section above), it makes sense to presume that specific audience segments use this tool to actively “correct” or “counterbalance” perspectives of more left-leaning journalists (e.g., Willnat & Weaver, 2014 for the US; Steindl, Lauerer, & Hanitzsch, 2017 for Germany; see also Chung, Munno, & Moritz, 2015). It might not be far-fetched to characterize some users who comment on news as “media skeptics;” such people perceive journalists and products of their work as selective and biased (Tsfati & Cappella, 2005; see e.g., Slavtcheva-Petkova, 2016; Toepfl & Piwoni, 2015). Accordingly, research shows that commenters’ attacks frequently address a “lack of balance, wholeness, fairness, and objectivity” (Neurauter-Kessels, 2011, p. 202; Rabab’ah & Alali, 2020, p. 15), aiming to delegitimize the journalists’ “authority, credibility and trustworthiness” (Neurauter-Kessels, 2011, p. 209).

This cognitively motivated engagement with the news and other users is a purposeful activity; commenters anticipate that their published opinions help readers to get a feeling about the “pulse of the public debate” (Douai & Nofal, 2012, p. 269), thus by commenting, they aim to influence public opinion building processes. We boldly go so far as to characterize such a form of commenting as digital activism or social media activism (Gerbaudo & Treré, 2015), and thereby as a form of political action. The intent of these commenters is to voice their opinions to (1) raise awareness about the relevance of issues or standpoints, especially if they feel that these are neglected in public discourses, and (2) to mobilize.

Awareness. Comment spaces are new, alternative ‘public spaces’ (Slavtcheva-Petkova, 2016, p. 1131) that allow users to publicly discuss or challenge democratic institutions (e.g., the state of the media), the logics in which they operate, as well as the perceived hegemonic public opinion that is also mediated by legacy media outlets. Quite conveniently, such media critiques can be directly posted onto news websites; also broader elite critiques can piggyback on the websites’ reach. There may be hope among commenters that elites can be influenced by these critiques, and that critical comments can also have an impact on journalists (e.g., in their agenda setting function). For instance, Slavtcheva-Petkova (2016) found that the commenters’ (public) agenda and the media agenda can differ quite considerably: “(a) Readers have reordered the salience of the topics—they devote more attention to topics deemed less interesting by the media. (b) Readers put forward new topics” (p. 1127). Moreover, users also voice perceptions of problematic political developments, such as threats to democratic and constitutional freedoms (e.g., Douai & Nofal, 2012).

Mobilization. By raising awareness, the viewpoints in such comments become more visible and thus “louder” because of their reach: while personal communication has a natural border that ends with one’s contacts, the commentary

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