An open debate with the news audience is highly valued, and the news media is always on the lookout for innovative methods to interact with its audiences, said the interviewed journalists. In comparison with 2009, most news sites today do not have a facility to post comments online. When comments are allowed, sites apply some sort of moderation to achieve a healthy debate. Most of them use a registration system. Some news media outlets, meanwhile, choose Facebook as a way of communicating with their readers, as well as a monitoring tool. The audience is asked for information in specific cases via websites, social media platforms, or newspapers. All interviewed journalists said user-generated content was never an option for them. They firmly said that journalism was a serious profession and audiences could only be used as witnesses in case of specific news events.
The business model of donations followed by VersBeton or FTM encourages direct interaction with the audience, where members can send e-mails to the editors-in-chief. Sending e-mails or letters to the editor is still a common practice in the Dutch news media. Twitter is also used to interact with the audience (see Indicator E3 – Diversity of news formats). News media with an ombudsperson such as NPO, De Limburger, NRC Handelsblad, and de Volkskrant can rely on intermediaries between the editorial staff and the audience. An interesting example of interaction with the audience is the nujij.nl platform of the nu.nl general website. This distinct website, reopened in April 2018 after a one-and-half–year hiatus, discusses news by getting in touch with editors and contributing to articles. In an effort to ensure a constructive discussion, there are specific rules in place, and the website assigns editors to moderate the content.
Meanwhile, one of the missions of MON (not mentioned under Indicator E8 – Level of self-regulation) is its role as a contact point for fighting misinformation. The audience, along with journalists with professional values, is deemed responsible for fighting the information crises. However, the comments on the MON website actually reflect a very poor practice of public interaction.
In NPO’s 2016–2020 concession policy plan (“The public first”), interaction with the audience is a key aspect: programme content can be found on the public broadcaster’s website, on social media, or on a search engine. Through these gateways, which include search options and referrals, viewers are catered to on the platform of their choice.
