Collaboration between professionals and the public could ensure more transparent journalism, and social media, in particular, are becoming an optimal tool to include readers in editorial processes (Sorrentino, 2016).
Starting from traditional forms of participation, print newspapers guarantee small visibility to readers’ requests. This is in the form of readers’ letters to the editor-in-chief or the newsroom (selected and published in the comments section of the newspapers), receiving daily answers from journalists (Il Fatto Quotidiano), or an authoritative author (la Repubblica, Corriere della Sera). In addition, this form of interaction between readers and editorial staff of print newspapers is sometimes further strengthened through the organisation of live events during the year, such as the “Repubblica delle idee” or the “Festa de Il Fatto Quotidiano alla Versiliana”. As the la Repubblica’s managing editor states:
We have had for years live events such as the “Repubblica delle idee”, moments in which we physically meet the community of our readers; therefore this is very important because it gives us the opportunity to understand the reader’s “pulse” and enthusiasm and the extent to which la Repubblica is considered a cultural reference point […]. During the festival, the website’s editorial staff works in real-time and people can see how it works while visiting the festival.
The co-editor in chief of Il Fatto Quotidiano emphasised the importance of these gathering moments:
There is an association composed of the members of Il Fatto, who are subscribers and, in some way, Il Fatto followers, we can use this expression: loyal supporters, readers, fans of Il Fatto. This association meets every year at “Festa della Versiliana”. They have the right to participate and, whenever they want, they can come to the headquarter of the newspaper and take part in the editorial meeting, even with family members.
Regarding the online tools, only a few channels allow readership to get in touch with the editorial offices, for requesting information or reporting a source or news item. For instance, online news forums are not provided, and the possibility to comment on articles published on the websites of the news organisations is provided only by three of the selected media, after logging-in using an ad hoc account (Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica, Il Fatto Quotidiano) and in two cases via Facebook login (Fanpage and Tg3). However, the other news organisations (Tg1, Tg La7,and Sky Tg24) do not provide any space for comments under articles or videos on their websites.
Other tools to interact with the editorial staff are in place. Corriere della Sera and Fanpage offer a detailed contact page that includes a form to fill, while la Repubblica and Il Fatto Quotidiano provide the editorial staff’s e-mail address (although not clearly visible on their homepage).
Television news media (Tg1, Tg5, Tg La7, SkyTg24) provide an e-mail address for the newsroom, but it is very hard to find. A test on the public’s interaction with the editorial staff was carried out in the context of the MDM project in order to verify their reactivity. An email was sent to each of the selected news media, explaining the objective of the cross-national study. No response was received within four months. Overall, it appears that the leading news media are de facto limiting the possibility for the audience to reply or give feedback.
Concerning the use of social media, the largest community of users on Facebook is that of Fanpage (8.2 million users), followed by la Repubblica (3.5), Corriere della Sera (2.6), and Il Fatto Quotidiano (2.3). The daily degree of participation of community readers is high, both in terms of comments and reactions. However, the performance of television channels is quite different. Tg5 is not active on Facebook or Twitter, while the use of Twitter and Facebook by the others channels (Tg1, Tg3,and Tg La7) is limited to publishing the content created for and broadcasted in their news editions. Only SkyTg24 regularly updates its social media channels, integrating Facebook Messenger to broadcast breaking news.
In other words, Italian leading news media rarely use social media as a tool to strengthen audience participation and, in fact, the interviewed journalists talk about a “broadcast mentality” in this regard. The managing editor of la Repubblica says:
We control reactions and feedback, but we do not engage in interaction and dialogue because it would require enormous resources that we do not have […]. We have a moderation team that works 24 hours a day, which however is an external service to the editorial staff. When in doubt, they contact the editorial staff to approve content.
The latter point is restated by the co-editor in chief of Il Fatto Quotidiano: “There are moderators who do this. There was a time when commenting was very free. Actually, even somewhat questionable things came out. It is now more selective”. According to the Tg1 managing editor, the professionals themselves should play an authoritative role in moderating the online debate: “My idea is that we as journalists should be officially present on social networks like influencers, with a function that cannot be improvised, but it has to be recognised”. Overall, it seems that journalists are conscious about the importance of dialogue with citizens but, at the same time, they are aware that this possibility is curbed due to limited available resources. Moreover, they also seem to be aware of the risks of uncontrolled proliferation of hate speech, misinformation, and harassment.
SkyTg24 forms a positive exception in disseminating user-generated content, and its managing editor claims:
There are specific rules. When there are news events or events that are in any case relevant, we make a so-called “call to action”. There isn’t immediately the opportunity to go to the place where there was a flood or an earthquake […], in those cases, we call on our audience to participate and to send us contributions.
In any case, this experience remains marginal to the general context and there is no evidence of publication of user-generated content in print newspapers or their websites.
