A Tale of Two Stories from “Below the Line”: Comment Fields at the Guardian

This article analyses the nature of debate on “below the line” comment fields at the UK’s Guardian, and how, if at all, such debates are impacting journalism practice. The article combines a content analysis of 3792 comments across 85 articles that focused on the UN Climate Change Summit, with 10 interviews with journalists, 2 with affiliated commentators, plus the community manager. The results suggest a more positive picture than has been found by many existing studies: debates were often deliberative in nature and journalists reported that it was positively impacting their practice in several ways, including providing new story leads and enhanced critical reflection. However, citizen-journalist debate was limited. The results are attributed to the normalization of comment fields into everyday journalism practice, extensive support and encouragement from senior management, and a realization that comment fields can actually make the journalists’ life a little easier.