The Influence of Anticipated Negative Public Feedback on Social Media News Editors and Fact-Checkers

This study explores how anticipated negative feedback from the public affects the editorial decisions of fact-checkers and social media editors in contemporary journalism. With social media platforms increasingly serving as public forums where professional news organizations and the wider public engage in journalistic discourse, user feedback can become hostile. Building on insights from the audience turn and audience perceptions, we investigate whether hostile user reactions influence journalistic practices. Interviews with 20 Flemish social media editors and 11 Dutch and Flemish fact-checkers show that they take potential negative reactions into account in their selection of news topics, language use and platform dissemination strategies. Anticipated negative feedback, therefore, influences journalistic choices, though its impact varies individually and is based on subjective feelings rather than objective facts. This research contributes to understanding how contemporary journalism is shaped by audience perceptions.