Be cautious or be cancelled: News audience’s motivations not to participate in online journalism

Abstract

News organizations try to improve the relationship with their audiences by seeking interaction with them - also known as participatory journalism. But not everyone participates; many news consumers do not surpass reading, watching, or listening to news. The explanations for lagging participation are scattered and not yet comprehensively integrated in an overarching overview. This study provides a more in-depth account of the different motivations of Dutch younger (<30) and older (<50) news users not to use the participatory tools that news websites offer. In this paper the motivations of these different groups are uncovered and compared. Our thematic analysis indicates that both groups are mostly driven by similar motivations. The main motivation both generations bring forward is their aversion towards the online community. Reluctance because of expertise (younger audience members) or career implications (older audience members) seem to be the most important difference between the two groups.