Public Spheres in Interaction: Comment Sections of News Websites as Counterpublic Spaces | Zendy

Toepfl Florian | Zendy; Piwoni Eunike | Zendy

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Public Spheres in Interaction: Comment Sections of News Websites as Counterpublic Spaces

Author(s) -

Toepfl Florian,

Piwoni Eunike

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

journal of communication

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 3.752

H-Index - 131

eISSN - 1460-2466

pISSN - 0021-9916

DOI - 10.1111/jcom.12156

Subject(s) - framing (construction) , mainstream , public sphere , hegemony , politics , media studies , democracy , sociology , political science , public relations , law , history , archaeology

Research scrutinizing political talk online has been developed largely against the backdrop of deliberative discursive norms and considered political talk without a systematic analysis of surrounding mass‐mediated discourses. By contrast, this study operationalizes counterpublic theory as an alternative theoretical perspective and analyzes comments on news websites as a reaction to hegemonic mainstream public spheres. It juxtaposes a qualitative framing analysis of all articles about a new anti‐Euro party in devotedly pro‐European Germany published on 9 news websites in the week following the 2013 elections ( n = 22) with a content analysis of all comments posted below these articles ( n = 3,154). It finds counterpublic spheres differently shaped in comment sections of right‐ and left‐leaning, and tabloid and nontabloid, outlets. Consequences for democracy are discussed.

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