Finishing the “Unfinished” Story

Online News Audiences as Co-Authors? The Extent and Limits of Collaborative Citizen-Professional Journalism on Newspaper Comment Threads

“…Flowing from these issues, it is further argued that one way in which journalist-authored narratives can be made more complete is to incorporate the testimony and background knowledge of (informed) lay knowers: in essence, by reconceiving of user "comment" threads as sites of narrative negotiation and knowledge exchange, rather than mere reaction, and users themselves less as audience-members than citizen sources and co-authors. Most importantly, the chapter moves beyond the narrow purview of Secko et al's study, which focused on exploring the co-authorship potential of threads on specialist websites, to build on arguments introduced by this author elsewhere that they might just as usefully be viewed as tools for finishing "unfinished" stories in the context of mainstream online news media as those aimed at niche audiences [9].…”

“…More significantly, though, comment threads are important because they allow those with relevant knowledge and/or experience to contribute to narratives, not just respond to them, by adding evidence-based posts that confirm what a journalist has reported; qualify it with a more balanced or nuanced account; or even contradict the published one. When backed by firstperson testimony, credible and clearly cited statistics and examples, or other verifiable truthclaims, such posts have the potential to affirm, enhance, dispute or even debunk the substance of "journalist-led" articles on which they "comment"-helping to complete and/or correct otherwise "unfinished stories," and transforming audience-members into co-authors of the "finished" versions [9].…”

Is there Critical Thinking in Popular Comments? A Descriptive Examination through Content Analysis

“…These characteristics are observable in today's news media, where readers are afforded an opportunity to take part in the development of a news story by leaving comments, or to communicate with other news media consumers. Morrison (2017) states that threads that ensue after a news item is published can be "seen as vibrant, often useful, occasionally crucial extensions of articles, which -taken together with the journalist-authored narratives -have the power to strengthen and/or reshape our understanding of, at times, vitally important public-interest issues" (p. 228; emphasis in original). Aside from leaving comments, other forms of engagement may come in the form of liking or sharing (Pennycook & Rand, 2017).…”

“…In the era of post-truths and 'fake news', there is a pressing need for news media users to be analytical and responsible (Fletcher & Park, 2017;Pennycook & Rand, 2017;Cooke, 2017). This need is also a response to the way news media is evolving, wherein users themselves are social entities that drive how information is created and understood (Morrison, 2017). Furthermore, news media users' involvement is a crucial aspect for the determination of media quality and meaning-making (Diakopoulos & Naaman, 2011).…”

“…To date, studies have examined news media users' involvement through civic participation (Nicodemus, 2004;Livingstone & Markham, 2008;Ksiazek, Malthouse, & Webster, 2010;Nielsen, 2011;de Zúñiga, Jung, & Valenzuela, 2012), consumption of news type (Thorson, 2008), and users' attitude and response towards different media platforms (Fletcher & Park, 2017;Pennycook & Rand, 2017;Cooke, 2017;Morrison, 2017). Nonetheless, minimal studies have examined what makes a comment popular, let alone the dynamism of these comments (Ziegele, Springer, Jost, & Wright, 2017).…”