changes that allow mass access . This journalistic myth goes further than Benjamin , democratising beyond just access to interaction , casting the audience as active users of news media rather than passive receivers . Rusbridger reflects this sentiment in 2009 , claiming that “ It cannot be true that there are only a handful of people worth listening to in the world .” In this new , mythical form of journalism , the voices of readers were to be elevated , listened to , and responded to .
Comment sections were the original location of choice for this new interactive journalism . Initially , hopes were high and belief in the myth was strong . There was a general conviction that lively BTL comments were not only good for encouraging positive relationships with audiences , but could also drive the economic success of papers and , critically , improve standards of journalism ( Wright et al ., 2020 ). Graham and Wright ( 2015 ) lay out the benefits to journalists , describing how comment fields “ potentially provide opportunities for journalists to reflect on their writing , test arguments in the case of commentary pieces , receive feedback on stories , and can be a source for more leads ” ( Graham & Wright , 2015 : p319 ). This myth of ideal interactive journalism seemed , at first glance at least , to be advantageous to all parties involved .
But myths are , by their nature , not truth . It doesn ’ t follow that they are untrue , but they predate certainty , and consequently risk miscalculation . Creative media fantasies about how the world could be rarely matches how the world is ( Natale and Balbi , 2014 ). This particular journalistic discourse strikes of “ technological utopianism ” ( Katz , 2005 ), focusing only on the potential benefits of digital progress without considering any other factors . Domingo ( 2008 ) also draws attention to the static nature of this myth . It paints a picture of an ideal form of journalism that doesn ’ t change – it simply is . This is not the nature of the world , nor the nature of any form of media . Change is inevitable and necessary , and changes must be adapted to when they are encountered .
PART III - ADAPTION And adapt the Guardian had to . Rusbridger ’ s original vision for the Guardian ’ s online content quicky became out of date . With the advent of smartphones , tablets and other portable technology , ways of viewing media continued to change . Now the Guardian is most commonly read on phone screens . Following widelypublicised coverage of the September-11 terrorist attacks , the Guardian ’ s online viewership rose dramatically . Soon 2 / 3 of its audience were not UK-based , and it is now viewed by more than a billion browsers a year ( Rusbridger , 2021 ). Changes had to be made to adapt to these new audiences and ways of consuming media .
At the same time , the myth of interactive journalism that the Guardian ’ s Open Journalism model was based on seemed to be failing . In 2006 , almost all Guardian online articles had active BTL comment spaces . By 2016 , an average of 65,000 comments were being posted a day ( Gardiner , 2018 ). The sheer magnitude of comments was almost impossible to manage . While in 2012 journalists were generally positive about comment spaces , by 2016 their response was far more negative ( Wright et al ., 2020 ). If part of the myth was to protect and inspire journalists into a higher quality of journalism , it was no longer fit for purpose .
The reasons for this are manifold . One obvious explanation is that the nature of comments did not match what was expected . Natale and Balbi ( 2014 ) describe how new technology is often fused for different purposes than it was initially imagined , and it is clear that , in the hands of some commenters , BTL spaces witnessed the
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