Comment moderation strategies in Canadian news media and their principles

Ahmed Al-Rawi; Joseph  Nicolai

doi:10.33282/abaa.v14i56.878

Authors

Assistant Professor, Ahmed Al-Rawi, Ph.D. School of Communication,Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Joseph Nicolai School of Communication,Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, Simon Fraser University, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33282/abaa.v14i56.878

Keywords:

moderation polices; news organizations; Canadian news media; social media; user generated content; racism; freedom of speech

Abstract

This paper offers a critical examination of Canadian news guidelines and policies
on user-generated content (UGC) posted on news-related comment sections and
social media.
The outline of how news-related UGC is moderated within Canadian news is achieved
by looking at the online comment policies of major Canadian news organizations like .
the CBC, CityNews (Halifax), CTV News, Glacier Media, Global News, The Globe
and Mail, Narcity Media, Postmedia, QUB (Québecor), and Torstar.The policies highlight how Canadian news organizations have practical strategies
to manage news-related UGC but also call upon positive and negative social
principles, to flag ill practices, foster democracy, and fight against online hate speech
and libel. The analysis shows how guidelines reflect many of the key principles highlighted
in the literature review but make no reference to economic principles that
are emphasized as important in academic and journalist concerns with moderating
news-related UGC.

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