Trolling Journalists and the Risks of Digital Publicity

Abstract

ABSTRACT The global phenomenon of trolling of journalists lays out the ambivalent consequences of news interactivity and the risks of digital publicity. The push for digital publicity made journalists more exposed to attacks amid rising digital hate and the populist demonization of the news media. The negative impact of trolling reveals important blind spots of aspirational visions about the consequences of audience interactivity for journalism. The troubling consequences of trolling raise important questions for journalism studies. How to rethink the notion of the public in journalism when newsrooms experience “participation fatigue”, disappointment, and frustration with audience engagement? What if members of the public refuse to play by the rules of civility and tolerance? What if interactive platforms are vehicles for hate rather than reason, facticity, listening, or critical thinking? Addressing these questions is necessary to produce nuanced arguments about journalism, the public and publicity.