This study examines the actions of readers as press critics and, therefore, as potentially powerful shapers of journalism’s cultural capital. An analysis of 2 years’ worth of online reader comments on the ombudsman columns of three national news organizations reveals readers’ support of – and even nostalgia for – mainstream journalism values such as objectivity, echoing earlier research suggesting the stability of the journalistic field in the face of challenges from new players such as bloggers. But commenters’ critiques of journalistic performance also employed social, and not only professional, values, representing a potential challenge to journalist autonomy.

Using an experiment and probability sample of Chicago and Los Angeles adults ( N = 1211), this study tested how tweet characteristics (tone, space) and participant age (younger, middle, older) affected attitudes about tweets from a local newspaper. Results indicate that non-opinionated tweets were perceived as more useful and credible than opinionated tweets, and local tweets resulted in more engagement than national tweets. Younger participants (19–36 years) reported more positive affect, usefulness, engagement, and credibility related to tweets than did middle/older age groups. Younger participants were generally more negative about opinionated national tweets and preferred opinionated local tweets compared with middle/older groups.

The relationship between online commenters and journalists has been challenged as frustrated journalists pull back on commenting and introduce rules to make it more difficult to participate. As new rules and policies emerge, journalists engage in a public campaign to change how commenting and journalism are perceived. This study seeks to understand how journalists attempt to frame commenting and its role alongside journalism. Boundary work was used to consider how journalists use public statements about commenting to establish appropriate roles for both the journalist and the commenter. But these statements also represent philosophies about strategies, policies, and practices related to commenting. Journalists take three philosophical approaches to online comments based on whether they willingly welcome commenters, see the commenter as a threat, but recognize their role, or take action to keep the audience at a distance. Along with these three roles, strategies and professional responses to commenting are also discussed.

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