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The participation of female and ethnic minority journalists is particularly important given the abuse towards these groups (Gardiner 2018). The 5 female journalists in the sample had made a total of just 115 (2.1%) comments, while the one (male) BME journalist had made a total of 157 comments over the sample period. While further systematic research is needed, it seems likely that female journalists comment significantly- probably due to incivility and abuse (Gardiner 2018).

Figure 4 The participation of female and ethnic minority journalists is particularly important given the abuse towards these groups (Gardiner 2018). The 5 female journalists in the sample had made a total of just 115 (2.1%) comments, while the one (male) BME journalist had made a total of 157 comments over the sample period. While further systematic research is needed, it seems likely that female journalists comment significantly- probably due to incivility and abuse (Gardiner 2018).

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Focusing now on the journalists’ own comments (Figure 4), the pattern of participation among the 26 journalists is striking, with a sharp rise from 2006 to 2010, at which point there was a leveling out, before a similarly sharp decrease from 2013 to 2015, then again another decrease in 2017 (Figure 4). In total, the 26 journalists posted 5448 comments, with 64.1% of these occurring between 2010 and 2013. The average number of comments posted by the journalists was 209.54, but this varied significantly between the journalists (SD = 405.13): four journalists posted no comments while three ‘super-posters’ (Graham and Wright 2014) had made over a thousand comments in total.
Focusing now on the journalists’ own comments (Figure 4), the pattern of participation among the 26 journalists is striking, with a sharp rise from 2006 to 2010, at which point there was a leveling out, before a similarly sharp decrease from 2013 to 2015, then again another decrease in 2017 (Figure 4). In total, the 26 journalists posted 5448 comments, with 64.1% of these occurring between 2010 and 2013. The average number of comments posted by the journalists was 209.54, but this varied significantly between the journalists (SD = 405.13): four journalists posted no comments while three ‘super-posters’ (Graham and Wright 2014) had made over a thousand comments in total.
Note: GEN refers to Guardian Environmental Network articles. The genre of the article under which journalists commented (N=5448) TABLE 2
Note: GEN refers to Guardian Environmental Network articles. The genre of the article under which journalists commented (N=5448) TABLE 2
News section under which journalists commented (N=5448) Turning to the assessment of reciprocity (Lewis et al. 2014), 85% of BTL comments by journalists were in reply to a specific user (direct reciprocity) with 15% being indirect (general reciprocity). We assessed sustained reciprocity in two ways. First, focusing on individual threads we found that while 1620 threads had only one comment from a journalist, there were 958 threads with at least two comments (3828 total comments). The most comments in one thread were 57, and there were 56 threads with more than 10 comments by journalists — indicative of deeper engagement (often they were arguing and debating, or had called for reader participation). Second, focusing on responses over time, seven of the 26 journalists had made a total of over 100 comments in total and were deemed as engaging in sustained reciprocity as individual journalists. These journalists were, unsurprisingly, responsible for the bulk of both forms of sustained reciprocity. Overall, we conclude that direct and sustained reciprocity were the dominant forms of communication amongst the Guardian journalists in our sample, but this was driven largely by a core group of highly engaged journalists.
News section under which journalists commented (N=5448) Turning to the assessment of reciprocity (Lewis et al. 2014), 85% of BTL comments by journalists were in reply to a specific user (direct reciprocity) with 15% being indirect (general reciprocity). We assessed sustained reciprocity in two ways. First, focusing on individual threads we found that while 1620 threads had only one comment from a journalist, there were 958 threads with at least two comments (3828 total comments). The most comments in one thread were 57, and there were 56 threads with more than 10 comments by journalists — indicative of deeper engagement (often they were arguing and debating, or had called for reader participation). Second, focusing on responses over time, seven of the 26 journalists had made a total of over 100 comments in total and were deemed as engaging in sustained reciprocity as individual journalists. These journalists were, unsurprisingly, responsible for the bulk of both forms of sustained reciprocity. Overall, we conclude that direct and sustained reciprocity were the dominant forms of communication amongst the Guardian journalists in our sample, but this was driven largely by a core group of highly engaged journalists.
If acting as an authoritative source is a longstanding role of the journalist, then within the other news genres, we saw more evidence of behaviours that challenge this professional norm. This links to the third key finding: that journalists are using comment spaces to reflect upon and improve their journalism. Three function codes directly addressed this point: correction/clarification/retraction (12.3%), journalism practice (12.9%), and requesting reader input (2.8%). Normatively, the latter two functions are of particular interest for journalism studies, as they hint towards a more open and collaborative form of journalism that scholars had hoped the internet might facilitate (Bruns 2005). Here, the comment space is used to utilise the resources and expertise of readers for future stories (reader input) and reflect upon the process of journalism itself (journalism practice) based on the comments from readers. Environment journalists from our 2012 interviews spoke with great enthusiasm about how they used comments fields for such purposes (Graham and Wright 2015). These findings suggest that journalists across a number of other beats also gained similar benefits. his genre) than news articles/features (17.5%) or blogs/columns (16.4%); and more prevalent n sections such as opinion (44.5%) than environment (16.1%) or science (11.9%). Typically, ypinion articles received the most reader comments. As a result, heated debates often emerged. vhich journalists then engaged in. In this often adversarial atmosphere, journalists retained a ‘ole of authority source, typically defending their position, and adding further analysis and nformation to their argument.
If acting as an authoritative source is a longstanding role of the journalist, then within the other news genres, we saw more evidence of behaviours that challenge this professional norm. This links to the third key finding: that journalists are using comment spaces to reflect upon and improve their journalism. Three function codes directly addressed this point: correction/clarification/retraction (12.3%), journalism practice (12.9%), and requesting reader input (2.8%). Normatively, the latter two functions are of particular interest for journalism studies, as they hint towards a more open and collaborative form of journalism that scholars had hoped the internet might facilitate (Bruns 2005). Here, the comment space is used to utilise the resources and expertise of readers for future stories (reader input) and reflect upon the process of journalism itself (journalism practice) based on the comments from readers. Environment journalists from our 2012 interviews spoke with great enthusiasm about how they used comments fields for such purposes (Graham and Wright 2015). These findings suggest that journalists across a number of other beats also gained similar benefits. his genre) than news articles/features (17.5%) or blogs/columns (16.4%); and more prevalent n sections such as opinion (44.5%) than environment (16.1%) or science (11.9%). Typically, ypinion articles received the most reader comments. As a result, heated debates often emerged. vhich journalists then engaged in. In this often adversarial atmosphere, journalists retained a ‘ole of authority source, typically defending their position, and adding further analysis and nformation to their argument.
Related topics:
JournalismDigital JournalismUser-Generated ContentProfessional Practice (Journalism)Online JournalismUser-Generated News-like ContentJournalism StudiesOnline newsUser Generated ContentNewspapers and online journalism
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