The loud public: The case of user comments in online news media

In the pre-internet era most members of the public did not have the ability to express their opinions on political issues via the mass media. This dissertation illustrates how the internet changed that by providing average citizens with endless opportunities to be heard. In particular, I analyze user comments on mainstream news sites as a vehicle that enables individuals to have a voice.;The broader theoretical framework draws on public opinion scholarship in political science and communication studies. I follow the footsteps of scholars who consider unstructured and active expression of opinion as an important facet of public opinion that enhances our understanding of how people construct and express their views. More specifically, this study emphasizes the proliferation of online venues of opinion expression that allow individuals (and not pollsters) to decide when, where, and how to express their political convictions. To examine user comments as opinion activity I employ a multi-method approach that combines in-depth interviews, web-based surveys, and a content analysis. The research project compares user comments in two different online news markets - the U.K. and Israel.;The findings demonstrate that in the eyes of commenters and journalists the user comments feature is first and foremost a tool for opinion expression and surveillance. Users also utilize the feature to interact and converse with each other but these interactions resemble informal political talk and should not be framed as a sphere for deliberation. In addition, I examine the factors associated with being an active commenter. The results provide empirical support for previous claims that online and offline political engagement are strongly related. The study also introduces a quality of opinion measure that is applicable to the online environment. The analysis considers the user's level of anonymity as a key explanatory variable. Results show that users' level of identification influences the quality of discourse in user comments. Finally, I demonstrate that user comments are one of many interactive features that are gradually becoming an important source of influence on editorial decision-making.