Audience as Journalistic Boundary Worker: The Rhetorical Use of Comments to Critique Media Practice, Assert Legitimacy and Claim Authority

Through a textual analysis of online comments in response to live broadcast from the San Bernardino shooters’ apartment, we explore rhetorical strategies audience used legitimate its participation boundary work. Our study demonstrates that members can operate as resourceful workers with sophisticated, multifaceted understanding journalism echoes scholarly and normative professional discourse. Their critique was not limited questioning unambiguously pernicious practices, such glorifying violence, tabloidization, pack journalism, violating ethical obligation minimizing harm. Instead, they went beyond problematize practice breaking news underdelivering on promise connecting audiences newsworthy events social significance, promoting voyeurism, overusing format an end itself. We also demonstrate commenters competent agents. Although did rely established legitimating (e.g., acting proto-professionals), appropriated them at level tactical moves distinctive new ways by parodying, rather than authentically emulating, journalistic style delivering live). They deployed novel establishing their authority workers, questions direct address, often using conjunction other authority-claiming moves.