Story-Chatterers Stirring up Hate: Racist Discourse in Reader Comments on U.S. Newspaper Websites

Abstract

With reader comments posted to newspaper websites seemingly becoming increasingly vitriolic, newspapers across the country are weighing the pros and cons of allowing readers to post anonymous comments online. Using a content analysis of online reader comments from a random sample of U.S. newspapers, this study explores how readers discuss race in online newspaper forums, and provides insight for editors struggling to meet the objectives of the Kerner Commission. Results show that reader comments included racial terms, even when the article did not. Further, when reader comments mentioned race, they tended to be negative, reiterating stereotypes. Latinos were mentioned more often than other races/ethnicities in the comments, and comments that mentioned Latinos also were likelier to be negative. Beyond eliminating anonymous commenting, this study suggests newspapers should reconsider “color-blind” policies that ignore race and make a concerted effort to publish more articles that tackle race-related issues.

KEYTERMS:

• content analysis
• ethnicity
• media
• race
• stereotype/prejudice/bias

Notes

The term storychat is taken from the name given to reader comments at a newspaper where the author previously worked as a reporter.