The promise and practice of participatory journalism

Alfred Hermida Associate professor University of British Columbia Screen Futures Melbourne July 10 2011 The promise and practice of participatory journalism

Participatory journalism circa 1690

People are combining powerful technological tools and innovative ideas, fundamentally altering the nature of journalism in this new century.
Dan Gillmor, We Media, 2003
Participatory journalism

We media
“ The act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tochis/

That MITCHELL AND WEBB LOOK

Promise vs practice? http://www.flickr.com/photos/haagsuitburo/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/claudio_ar/

Interviews with 67 online journalists
More than two dozen leading newspapers in 10 Western democracies
Qualitative data analysis to identify key themes
Eight researchers in seven countries
Project overview

Access/observation : Initial info-gathering stage.
Selecting/filtering : ‘Gate-keeping’ stage where decisions are made on what to report or publish.
Processing/editing : Story is created and edited.
Distribution : Story is disseminated.
Interpretation : Published story opened up to comment or discussion.
news production stages

What's interesting for journalists is to have contributions that really relate to news, of the witness type.
Editor, France
During breaking news, inviting your readers to chime in and add their observations is useful.
Online editor, Canada
Most opeN: access/observation

Not terribly well-thought through or just vitriolic.
Editor, Canada
Make lots of voices, including ones we don’t agree with, heard.
Editor, UK
Most open: interpretation

Access/observation : Initial info-gathering stage.
Selecting/filtering : ‘Gate-keeping’ stage where decisions are made on what to report or publish.
Processing/editing : Story is created and edited.
Distribution : Story is disseminated.
Interpretation : Published story opened up to comment or discussion.
Most closed

Shifts in the newsroom http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwalsh/

Community manager
Comment moderator
New roles http://www.flickr.com/photos/alessandrocalza/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspi/

Community manager
New roles
It’s new, it’s a complex but enriching role.
Editor, France
Explain to users, show users or encourage users to explore what’s possible in terms of interaction.
Community editor, UK
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alessandrocalza/

Comment moderator
New roles
A journalist shouldn’t be spending half his time reading comments on his stories, or we would never get through it.
Online editor, France
We rely on the community to police itself.
Online editor, USA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspi/

Conventional role
Dialogical role
Ambivalent role
Shifts in self-perception http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevelevi/

Journalism remains journalism, and it’s not going to change its fundamentals.
Online editor, Canada
What we have to offer as our brand is a newspaper and a site that can be trusted.
Editor, USA
Conventional role http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/

It’s always been a conversation. It’s just that [journalists] never heard the other side of it.
Community editor, UK
We have a lot of work to do there, to repair the relationship, to regain people’s trust.
Editor, USA
DIALOGICAL ROLE http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnxjj/

Professional media are and will be necessary, even if there are thousands or hundreds of thousands of readers eager to send in, comments, participate in polls, take photos... Both will live side by side.
Online editor, Spain
AMBIVALENT ROLE http://www.flickr.com/photos/solidether/

Perceptions of the audience http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewfield/

Our journalists say they increasingly get tips from readers, especially for local news.
Editor, Belgium
Citizens are like little springs of clear water.
Editor, Spain
Users as Information sources http://www.flickr.com/photos/helgabj/

The performers on the stage are after the applause. That’s what we want. We want the applause.
Editor, Canada
Control remains in the hands of journalists, who launch the debate. Users react.
Editor, France
Users as Commentators

Giving our customers a place on the web to go meet like-minded people.
Editor, UK
We look at community tools as a way to… get people coming back and also keeping them on the site for longer.
Editor, Canada
Users as community http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwparenteau/

There should be a multiplication of calls to the audience, but this doesn’t mean getting readers to write articles.
Editor, France
Users as Co-workers http://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/

Fortress journalism http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordontarpley/

Active recipients http://www.flickr.com/photos/eole/

Thank you
All royalties go to Reporters Without Borders
E: [email_address] T: @hermida W: www.participatoryjournalism.org

http://www.reportr.net	167
http://viamultimedia.tumblr.com	65
http://1001medios.tumblr.com	60
http://paper.li	57
http://www.clasesdeperiodismo.com	44
http://flavors.me	15
http://devry.sophia.org	8
http://www.aplaceofmind.ubc.ca	7
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	3
http://medielandskapet.collected.info	1
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	1

The promise and practice of participatory journalism

by Alfred Hermida on Jul 25, 2011

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