In this
paper, news discussion forums are studied as vernacular public discourse and as
a communicative genre in the digital context. First, these forums are defined
as a vernacular public discourse since users base their reasoning on private
sphere stancetaking, and their views do not receive legitimation. Additionally,
the participants comprise a hybrid public that shares networking but not
necessarily a common ground on the topic being discussed. Second, news
discussion forums are based on the communicative activity of commenting as they
are initiated by a news article or other types of professional news content.
They can be compared to content-based and knowledge-based discussions in social
media, but they have their own specific characteristics. Third, the users do
not necessarily reveal their source of knowledge, but when they do, references
are of a general nature or they are anchored in the private sphere of the participants.