Where Old (Gatekeepers) Meets New (Media)

Abstract

An examination of reader comments published in newspapers shows how journalists shape online content for print. A content analysis of printed comments and interviews with journalists who choose them reveal how gatekeeping constructs a hybrid site of participatory journalism that is similar to but distinct from letters to the editor. Unlike letters, anonymity was the norm. Smaller newspapers predictably printed a larger percentage of comments. But publications of all sizes edited comments, sometimes heavily, before printing them. In selecting comments for newspapers, journalists juggle the immediacy and informality of online conversation with such print standards as context, civility, and readability.

KEYWORDS:

• editing
• gatekeeping
• letters to the editor
• newspapers
• reader comments
• user-generated content

Notes

1. The author previously was an editor at The New York Times and the Austin American-Statesman. Daily circulation in 2012: Athens (Alabama), 8227; Austin (Texas), 137,681; Bluefield (West Virginia), 20,361; Buffalo (New York), 147,085; Meadville (Pennsylvania), 14,128; New York Times, 717,513; Oakland Press (Michigan), 81,935; Washington Post, 434,693.

2. The other questions: 7. Your publication requires/does NOT require the commenter to leave a full name. How did you come to that decision? 8. How does the process, from start to finish, compare with editing a staff-written article? 9. What do you think are the differences between your print and online audiences? 9a. How do those differences play into your selecting comments? 10. How are printed reader comments different from letters to the editor? 11. Some might say that the printed comments represent an “elite class of reader engagement.” Do you agree or disagree? Please explain your answer. 12. Please share any other thoughts you have about reader comments.

3. The reliabilities were the following: printed comment as reply (a difficult measurement), 0.72; grammatical errors in comment, 0.73; tone, 0.76; attribute, 0.82; biographical detail, 0.85; level of editing, 0.89; online representation, 0.96. All other variables had a 1.0 coefficient.

4. The Buffalo News requires full names for comment submission but grandfathered in many anonymous commenters.

5. Spelling, capitalization, and grammar of comments are faithful renditions.