Mass media and the concept of interactivity: an exploratory study of online forums and reader email

Abstract

Lack of interaction between the mass media and their audiences has always been a target for media criticism. While the Internet provides a potential for more interactive communication, one wonders how much this opportunity is taken up. The traditional mass media do not seem to become obsolete. Their function as providers of a shared lifeworld might become even more important. Besides their traditional formats, mass media are well represented on the World Wide Web, but it is not clear yet how interactive they will be in the online environment. The article first goes over theoretical implications, taking the perspective of the current Frankfurt School and the American movement of public journalism. Then it identifies concrete settings and levels of interactivity in online journalism. Finally, an exploratory study of New York Times journalists and forum participants helps illustrate chances and problems of mass media online.

The Mediated Moderation Model of Interactivity

“…In online journalism, Schultz (2000) attempted to apply the responsiveness model to the analysis of interaction between New York Times readers and journalists via e-mails and online forums, but the hypothesized effects of interaction, including a narrowing knowledge gap and increase in political participation, were not found. In health communication, Cassell, Christine, and Brian (1998) contend that the level of website interactivity indicates the extent to which the Internet mimics interpersonal communication (see also Robinson, Patrick, Eng, & Gustafson, 1998), but the hypothesized effect of interaction, namely, the facilitation of persuasive public health interventions, is absent.…”

Interactivity features of Online Newspapers: from a facsimile model to a multimedia model one. Interactivity in online journals.

“…To know the state of this implementation is desirable. To further illustrate the different degrees of interactivity, and based on data previously obtained, each newspaper can be classified into one of the next stages that identify "concrete settings and levels of interactivity in online journalism" (Schultz 2000): 1) Facsimile model: Is a reproduction of the printed edition of newspapers, often in PDF. News from the paper version and the digital one are the same.…”

Everyday political talk in the Internet-based public sphere

“…45-46). Similarly, Schultz (2000) maintained, "A new discipline is required since the Internet involves a great temptation to publish and communicate too much, which consequently weakens the overall significance and excludes many people just because they cannot keep up and cannot get through the dense communicative jungle" (p. 219).…”

“…One of the most common findings is that online forums typically feature highly active minorities of content creators (Brants, 2002;Dahlberg, 2001b;Dunn, 2009, Graham, 2010a, 2010bJankowski & Van Os, 2004;Jensen, 2003;Koop & Jansen, 2009;Robertson et al, 2010;Schultz, 2000;Winkler, 2005). For example, Schneider's (1997) analysis of newsgroups found that only 5% of participants accounted for 80% of the messages, indicating substantial inequalities in the rate and distribution of participation.…”