The Citizen as Contributor—Letters to the Editor in the Austrian Tabloid PaperKronen Zeitung(2008–2017)

Abstract

This paper addresses the subject of letters to the editor as one of the longest standing forums for public discussion and debate by ordinary citizens. To show how the voice of ordinary citizens is presented in letters to the editor during national election campaigns over a period of ten years (2008, 2013 & 2017), we are focusing on the Austrian Kronen Zeitung: A newspaper with an exceptionally high market share of up to 40% during the examination period, a heavy focus on the letters section with three pages per day, and a self-declared willingness to take a stance, especially during election periods. Based on a quantitative content analysis of 530 letters to the editor and 525 articles in the politics section as well as survey data from the Austrian national election study on the political positions of the Kronen Zeitung's readers, we find that letters to the editor in the Kronen Zeitung do not reflect, but complement the articles in the politics section. The tone of the letters is more negative than that of news articles, but the letters closely reflect the readers' political positions, therefore offering identification with the paper.

“Stop Giving Us the Negatives of the Other Side’s Aims”: The EU Referendum Through Letters to the Editor

“…Previous research has signalled negativity as one of the most prominent features of letters to the editor (Cooper et al 2009;Hayek et al 2020), either because they act as a 'social safety valve'-i.e. offering a platform for citizens to vent about matters of public interest (Lander 1972)-, or as a means to offer a counterbalance to the news (Nielsen 2010), or to 'spice up the news' (Wahl-Jorgensen 2002b).…”

Examining Malaysian Public Letters to Editor on COVID-19 Pandemic: A Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis

“…Specifically, this paper explores the Malaysian views on COVID-19 through a critical discourse analysis by investigating public online letters to the editor of a popular news portal in the country via corpus linguistics techniques. Research has shown that letters to editors in online newspapers are highly valued by their readership (Raeymaeckers, 2005), and they are usually read by more people than commentaries or opinion pieces (Hayek, Mayrl, & Russmann, 2019). When the ordinary citizens are given a voice via their letters to the editor, the media also gains knowledge about the public agenda and issues that are of interest to the public, making letters to editors a specialised discourse worthy to be examined.…”