STEPPING BACK FROM THE GATE:ONLINE NEWSPAPER EDITORSAND THE CO-PRODUCTIONOF CONTENT IN CAMPAIGN 2004By Jane B. SingerIn their coverage of the 2004 political campaign, editors of Web sites affil-iated with major U.S. newspapers continued to emphasize their role asproviders of credible information. But they moved toward seeing thatinformation less as an end product than as a basis for user engagement,participation, and personalization. This study, which builds on a similarstudy conducted after the 2000 election, suggests journalists may be tak-ing steps toward reshaping their gatekeeping role to accommodate theinteractive nature of the Internet.Journalists see themselves as central to the democratic process. Inthe journalist's view of democracy, the notion of citizen sovereignty restson the quality of information that those citizens possess—and it is up tojournalists to provide it,' Giving citizens the information they need to befree and self-governing has been defined as the primary purpose of jour-nalism,^Editors have contributed to this process primarily through theirrole as gatekeepers, ensuring through their selection of content that "thecommunity shall hear as a fact" only what the editor determines is suit-able.^ Yet the power of such gatekeepers seems to diminish in a moderninformation society.** The Internet defies the whole notion of a "gate"and challenges the idea that journalists (or anyone else) can or shouldlimit what passes through it. At the same time, the sheer quantity ofinformation online, along with its wildly varying quality, reinforces theneed for someone to sort it out as well as to lend it credibility and, ide-ally, utility.This article explores editors' reconceptualization of their gatekeep-ing role in the democratic process. It suggests that as they continue to"normalize" the Internet^ as a vehicle for journalism, journalists still seethemselves as a primary source of credible political information. Butmore of that information than in the past is explicitly intended as a start-ing point rather than an end product for audience members. Online edi-tors are increasingly accommodating the interactive, participatorynature of the medium, simultaneously redefining and reaffirming theirJane B. Singer is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Commu-nication, University of Iowa.STEPPING BACK FROM THE GATE]&MC QuarterlyVol. 83, No. 2Summer 2006265-280®2006 AEJMC265own space within it. To investigate this subject, the article presentsand analyzes findings of a 2004 follow-up to a 2000 study of onlinenewspapers' campaign coverage. The results indicate a continuing focuson providing information but suggest a growing emphasis on contentthat serves as the raw material for user participation and personaliza-tion.Literature Online Journalists and Interactivity. Almost all U.S. daily newspa-Review pers now offer online versions,'^ and the Internet is a news source for amajority of Americans.^ However, research attempting to document howjournalists are taking advantage of the medium's inherently interactivenature has produced mixed results, partly because of conceptual dis-agreement about what "interactivity" means,^ Definitions encompass arange of user capabilities, from clicking on a hyperlink to construct a non-linear story,' to providing feedback to professional communicators,'" toengaging in online discourse and forming virtual communities," Themost valuable definitions for the purpose of this study relate to a user'sability to "participate in modifying the form and content of a mediatedenvironment in real time."'^ Applying a journalistic framework, Masseyand Levy call this concept "content interactivity," or "the degree to whichjournalists technologically empower consumers over content.""Journalists have been slow to let go of "the 'we write, you read'dogma of modern journalism,"''' Traditional media have been criticizedfor failing "to really take reader response and reader-to-reader communi-cation seriously"'' as they move online, opting instead to repurpose exist-ing content rather than capitalize on the medium's ability to supportinteractivity and personalization,'* A recent industry study found thatusers had relatively few options for manipulating content or tailoring it totheir own needs, although such options varied widely among the newssites analyzed,"" One observer has characterized the audience's relation-ship to online journalism as "the biggest question of all in looking at thefuture of the profession,"'* as users become active co-producers of onlinecontent. This idea of user-manipulable content as a definition of interac-tivity is especially useful in considering online campaign coverage.Online Political Communication. The notion of an active audienceis critical in considering the Internet's potential effect on democratic soci-ety. The idea of an electronically enabled public sphere, a zone in whichauthentic public opinion can emerge from unfettered, rational discourse,"continues to tantalize scholars. Yet despite high hopes for the potential ofan "electronic republic" to empower citizens,^" a decade of Web use hasled many to conclude that a "virtual sphere" is just a dream. Theseobservers emphasize that although the medium offers a useful place forpolitical discussion and may encourage greater pluralism, technologyalone cannot foster democracy by engendering political interest orengagement,^' The Internet may affect the expression of political commu-nication but cannot and will not change its internal structures.Building on these ideas, some empirical research suggests that aspolitical players have moved online over the past decade, they have266 JOURNAUSM & MASS COMMUNICATION QUARTERLYbegun "normalizing" the new medium. From this perspective, users areincorporating the Internet into existing political behavior patternsinstead of using it to generate significantly new ones;^ the medium thusreflects users' offline interests, experiences, and desire to communi-cate.^^ Citizens turn to the Web for traditional uses and gratifications,including surveillance, entertainment, and social utility.^" Candidatesand politicians have used the medium largely to strengthen long-stand-ing goals, notably a desire to exercise message control and thus shapeboth public perceptions and the media agenda.^^ Candidates in 2004used the Internet extensively to expand such traditional political activi-ties as raising funds and mobilizing supporters.^^