Post on 15-May-2015
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transcript
Citizen Journalism and its Future
J 349T Writing for Online PublicationInstructor: Seth C. Lewis
seth.lewis@mail.utexas.edu
Part I: A most useful definition
Jay Rosen, 2008
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
“When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism.”
Some key features of citizen-J
• Absence of a “middle man” in doing news• Interpersonal form of newsflow (a “person
talking,” like a blog)• The act of citizens “playing an active role in
the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information” (Bowman and Willis)
Part II: Doing citizen journalism
How does this work in practice?
• You write about a city council meeting on your blog
• Capture eyewitness moment with your digital camera and post to a news site
• Grab video of something newsy and post to YouTube
• In other words …– Create, augment, or fact-check media on their
own or in collaboration with others
How online news sites use citizen-J
Pros in charge Amateur control
Opening up to comments
Add-on reporter
Citizen bloghouse
Stand-alone citizen site; minimal editing
Hybrid: pro + citizen
Wiki-style
11 Layers of Citizen Journalism
Pros in charge Amateur control
Opening up to comments
Add-on reporter
Citizen bloghouse
Stand-alone citizen site; minimal editing
Hybrid: pro + citizen
Wiki-style
Layer 1: Opening up to comment
• Letting readers comment on news site• Most basic form of participation• Only comments on stories? …– Why not classifieds, obituaries, letters to editor?
• But, how do you handle the toxic stuff?– Require users to register (name/e-mail)– “Moderation a virtue?”
Layer 2: Citizen add-on reporter
• Solicit info/experiences from community• Example– say there’s an issue piece on car thefts; “tell us
your own experience”; submit photos, etc.
Layer 3: Open-source reporting
• Collaboration between pro journalist and readers on a story– “expert readers” add knowledge, ask questions– Sometimes even do actual reporting
• Examples– “We’re doing an interview with X; what do you
want us to ask?”– Circulate a draft version of report to bloggers, etc.– Highlight reader tips in pop-up boxes online?
Layer 4: Citizen bloghouse
• Invite anyone to blog on your site• … or invite selected people to blog• Aggregate local blogs (like Greensboro101)• Examples– Austin American-Statesman’s reader blogs– Bluffton Today’s community blogs
Layer 5: ‘Transparency’ blogs
• Invite panel of readers to critique your work• Think of it as “citizen ombudsmen”• Milder form: the editor’s blog pulling back the
curtaining on the newsroom
Layer 6: Stand-alone citizen site
• Now we’re really getting serious …• Users submit whatever they want• Think lots of submitted photos• Editors’ job?– Ensure minimum level of quality (line-editing)– Modest monitoring of content
• Essence: citizens’ more or less “own” the site
Layer 7: Citizen site … unedited
• Costs less, and fits better in the spirit of citizen journalism
• On safer legal ground?• Regulate content through “report
misconduct” buttons?• Not a lot of success stories so far?
Layer 8: Add a print edition
• Cull the best submitted content for print• Keep editing to bare minimum• Lend credibility and visibility to citizen site• Primary source of revenue• … But, is something lost here?• Examples:
• YourHub• Northwest Voice• Bluffton Today
Layer 9: Pro + citizen hybrid
Layer 10: pro + am under one roof
• Only nice in theory? …
Layer 11: wiki journalism
90-9-1 Principle
Or, Jay Rosen’s 1% doctrine
• Of citizen-generated news …– 1% is high quality– 10% is … well, OK– The rest is garbage