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The BBC goes blogging: Is ‘Auntie’ finally listening?Alfred HermidaGraduate School of JournalismUniversity of British Columbia
Alfred Hermida
Graduate School of Journalism
University of British Columbia
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Points of View, BBC, 1962
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Points of View, BBC 1962
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AccountabilityBBC labeled as:
Bloated monolith
Monopolistic
Elitist
Complacent
Poorly managed
Photo: Joe Dunckley (http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinsky/)
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The J-blogNew form of journalism (Wendland, 2003; Singer, 2005; Wall, 2005)
Platform for accountability and transparency (Andrews, 2004; Glaser, 2004; Singer, 2003)
Photo: JKim1: (http://www.flickr/photos/jkim1)
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Methodology
BBC public policy documents
Internal BBC reports
Blog content on BBC and personal websites
Correspondence with senior editorial executives
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Newslog, BBC 2001
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Blogging the US election, BBC 2004
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Blogs?
Dissemination of information is great, but how much of it is trustworthy? They are an interesting phenomenon, but I don't think they will be as talked about in a year's time.
Mike Smartt, 2003
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Resistance“The latest Internet phenomenon of which much is said and little understood”
“Fears by some that a new openness would lead to embarrassing disclosures and uncomfortable headlines”
“Lots of grappling with very practical problems and frustrations”
“People who argued vehemently that it was not the route for the BBC to go down”
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The Editors’ Blog
“Explain some of our editorial decisions, our priorities, answer criticisms”
“Hopefully draw other parts of BBC News into the process as well”
Pete Clifton, 2005
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December 2005 - 1 blogNovember 2006 - 43 blogs
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Editorial values
Same rules apply as on air – impartiality is the watchword. Which means bloggers have to tread a careful line – they can be engaging and judgmental, but must not take sides.
BBC correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, 2008
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Journalistic voice
It allows us a different tone of voice which, being less formal, can convey more of an insight into the perspectives, predicaments and personalities of our reporters (and editors)
Rachel Nixon, BBC News website, World Feature Editor, 2006
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Repairing trust
We do have an interest in hearing the public’s views about our news coverage, so we run an Editors' blog and host discussions about that – an essential part of a push towards greater accountability and openness and a way of enhancing and repairing the damaged trust in the BBC
Peter Horrocks, Head of BBC Newsroom, 2008
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Limits of the conversation
Few links to other websites, including blogs
A one-way process
Demands on time
Unstable infrastructure
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Thoughts for discussion
A new openness
A more personal form of journalism
Journalistic authority
Questions over acceptance
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