Readers Comments on Zimbabwean Newspaper Websites

Abstract

Using qualitative data drawn from in-depth interviews with journalists, this study investigates how leading print newsrooms in Zimbabwe are adapting to the wave of changes spawned by readers’ comments on their websites. It specifically examines how newspaper journalists are handling the “new” context in which strangers contribute and respond directly to something they alone once controlled. The paper further explores the professional and ethical dilemmas emerging with the volumes of user-generated content posted on the websites and the approaches taken by newsrooms in managing and “gatekeeping” the content. The study generally observes that while newsrooms are still broadly adjusting to the influx of readers’ voices in their territory, the comments are increasingly shaping and contributing to the dynamics of newsmaking in ways that point to an emerging ecological reconfiguration and recasting of dimensions of news production. In the same way, the comment forums embody spaces for public deliberation. However, the lack of clear gatekeeping strategies has opened floodgates of abuses and extremist views that pose serious threats to the core values of news as well as the normative ideals of traditional journalism.