Participation in UK news content is somewhat patchy and uneven. Some newspaper sites allow relatively free and unrestricted comments, while others limit access to subscribers. The BBC allows online commentary on selected stories, while other broadcasters don’t include comments sections alongside their online content. The BBC also broadcasts regular programming that allows direct right of reply to audiences about news coverage, or includes members of the public in live discussion of news and current affairs (on television and radio). Live phone-ins on commercial radio shows are common, with the expansion of dedicated talk radio stations in recent years.
The websites of the UK’s tabloid and mid-market newspapers generally allow users to comment alongside articles. Mail Online, for example, the sister site for newspapers the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday offers unmoderated and moderated comments sections for different stories, although comments are disabled on some articles for legal reasons or due to the sensitivity of the content – a practice employed by other newspapers. Comments sections on the sites of broadsheet newspapers tend to be less open, either because comments have been restricted or because paywalls are in place, limiting comments to communities of subscribers rather than the public as a whole. The Telegraph in 2020 restricted comments on its news sites to subscribers-only, matching sites like The Times and the Financial Times which operate hard paywalls (Telegraph, 2020). The Guardian cut back its comment functions in 2016 due to difficulties in restricting abuse and disruption by users within comment threads (Hamilton, 2016).
Online, the BBC allows users to comment on selected news stories. Comments are moderated in accordance with a series of rules on acceptable content (BBC, 2018c). ITV News, Channel 4 News and Sky News do not allow user comments on their websites, although – as with newspaper sites – stories and articles are routinely shared on social media.
In its broadcast output, the BBC produces several programmes that feature members of the public contributing to political discussion or responding to news or other programmes. Newswatch, aired on the BBC News channel, consists of audience complaints and views on the BBC’s news coverage across all platforms, and includes on-air responses from editors and decision-makers (BBC, n.d.). Question Time is a long-running panel discussion programme where political figures respond to questions about current events from a studio audience. The BBC’s regional and local radio programming features regular phone-in shows, as does the national station BBC Radio 5 Live (for example, on the 5 Live Breakfast programme).
Other broadcasters offer fewer opportunities for on-air feedback to news provision, though commercial talk radio stations such as LBC and talkSPORT make extensive use of phone-ins on political topics as well as (in the latter case) sport.
