UGC Status and Levels of Control
in Argentine, Colombian, Mexican,
Peruvian, Portuguese, Spanish,
US and Venezuelan Online
Newspapers
Austin, 2009

Elvira Garcia
de Torres
Lyudmyla
Yezers’ ka
Fernando
Zamith Nora Paul
Jorge BadilloMabel
Calderin
Miladys
Rojano
Silvia
Martinez
Martinez
Janet
Rodriguez
Martinez
Jose
Azevedo
Roberto
Igarza

Elvira Garcia
de Torres
Lyudmyla
Yezers’ ka
Fernando
Zamith Nora Paul
Jorge BadilloMabel
Calderin
Miladys
Rojano
Silvia
Martinez
Martinez
Janet
Rodriguez
Martinez
Jose
Azevedo
Roberto
Igarza

UGC - Journalism
Bowman and Willis (2004):a form of
participatory journalism
Hermida and Thurman (2008): a
process… opportunity to participate or contribute
De Keyser and Raeymaeckers
(2008): the sum of participatory and citizen
journalism
Wunsh/Vincent and Vickery (2007):
publication, creative effort (also adapting) and
outside of professional practices

UGC
Citizen Journalism
UGC (news reporting)
Participatory
Journalism (MSM)

Approach
In this context, we propose to
analyze participatory journalism
messages taking into consideration
the relationship between users and
producers as the relationship
provides a context in which
messages acquire meaning

Framework
Our approach is based in the
Interactional view, that looks into
verbal and non verbal messages to
find out the rules of the relationships
There can be, for example, a
pattern of authority/submission or
weakness/assistance

Messages
Also, tacit messages and explicit
messages on the relationship
acquire importance
We found them in the terms of use
and privacy policies, the more or
less control of the users’
participation, data on participation
and so on.

Purpose
In this preliminary approach we
seek to explore relational messages
in the user- producer relationship
regarding control and recognition of
UGC

Research Questions
Q1. Are there any patterns in messages
regarding UGC?
Q2. Do media give visibility to the users
contributions?
Q3. Is there a correlation between
control for comments on journalistic and
amateur content?
Q4. How far do media get involved in
producing a citizen reporter toolkit?

Method
Survey of 24 websites of Argentine,
Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Portugal,
Spain, US and Venezuela
Sample takes circulation in
consideration. It is based on circulation
audits data and other significant sources
when reliable figures are not easily
available

Argentine

Argentine

Argentine

Colombia

Colombia

Colombia

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Peru

Peru

Peru

Portugal

Portugal

Portugal

Spain

Spain

Spain

United States

United States

United States

Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela

Parameters
The coding scheme is based partially in
Domingo et al (2008)
We put emphasis in
The rules
The mechanisms of control
Recognition of UGC
I.e. Send a picture

Send a picture
For example, for “Send a picture” in our
grid it is possible to code:
Moderator/ moderator on ocassion
Registration
Categories
Conceptualization: what news is
Tips: how to take a better picture
Undesirable material
Report Abuse
Displayed in other sections
Monetary compensation /on ocassion

Send a picture
Users have to pay
Photos can be shared
Post a comment
Editing tools
Specific rules / Read / Accept
General rules / Read /Accept
Grant license on rights
License for adaptations
Minimum age to participate
Minors are supposed to have permission
Has to be original work /consent by people
shown/ parents or guardians if minors
Right to reject the picture

CR Channel
Rules
Formats
What “news” is
Ethics
Control
Monetary compensation
Warning signals for sensitive material
Unwelcome content
Posibility to publish in other
sections/webs/media

Codebook

Reliability
Test of the codebook (two papers per
country) and final version
Test of reliability, as a prior step, before
entering the coding process
When the level of agreement was
considered sufficient, the analysis took
place
We decided that each paper would be
coded by two analists, in view of the
length and the attention it required

Communication
A wiki was created to facilitate the
coordination and communication
between the members of the group.
Challenges:
Working at different hours along the
day
Language barriers

Conclusion 1
Results reflect a duality regarding UGC
status: there is a wide implementation of
2.0 tools, but the most accepted are
those that allow users to work on the
content provided by the newspapers, but
not so much the tools to produce
content.

UGC STATUS AR CO ME PE PT ES VE US
TO
T
News Stories audience-driven
hierarchy 2 2 3 1 3 3 3 3 20
Stories/Blogs list audience-driven
hierarchy on the homepage 2 2 3 0 3 3 3 3 19
Reporter blogs 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 18
Polls, Live discussion, forum… on
the home page 2 2 1 3 3 3 3 1 18
Comments embedded in journalist
blogs 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 17
Comments embedded in journalist
stories 2 2 3 1 3 2 2 2 17
UGC on the frontpage 2 2 3 0 3 3 2 2 17
All blogs are open to comments 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 16
Social networking in the stories 1 2 3 1 1 3 1 3 15

Conclusion 2
At the same time, recognition of content
provided by users is high regarding both
the number of options given to them to
be contributors to the newspaper and
the publication of their contributions in
the front page.

Conclusion 3
The most significant pieces in the puzzle
of status is who retains the rights over
content and if monetary compensation
for contributions is given. This is where
the real recognition or the status is
established in terms of authorship and
both were found to provide little in the
way of protection or rights for the users’
contributions.

UGC RIGHTS ON
CONTENT ARG COL MEX PER PTR ES VE US TOT
Invitation to submit photos
0 0 3 1 2 2 2 2 12
Grant license on rights
0 0 1 0 0 2 1 2
6
(50%)
License for adaptations
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2
5
(41.6%
)
Invitation to submit videos
0 0 2 0 0 2 1 2 7
Grant license on rights
0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2
5( 71.4
%)
License for adaptations
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
3
(42.8%
)
Citizen Reporter Channel
1 1 2 0 2 1 1 0 8
Grant license on rights
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
4
(50%)
License for adaptations
1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
6
(75%)

Conclusion 4
This is significant given that users were
generally not asked to explicitly accept
the legal terms, that is, the contract, as a
step prior to uploading or sending
contributions.

Read the
rules
Example for “Read the rules” (El Mundo,
(Spain)

Acceptance is
compulsory to
post a
comment
Example for “Accept the rules” ( Clarín,
Argentine)

Conclusion 5
Control of UGC is exerted though a
variety of tools. Some of them require a
very active stance by the newspapers,
such as moderation, especially when it
does not depend on the reporting of
abuse by the users. Other means of
control are based on more or less strong
directions and guidelines (rules,
recommendations or prohibitions).

Conclusion 6
Newspapers present a high variance
with a majority of papers adopting
different strategies depending on the
tool offered.

Conclusion 7
Problems arising from participation and
attempts to solve them by mechanisms
of control based on human resources
and/or technology are well known, but
the coordination of the actions regarding
UGC in the websites requires further
examination.

Conclusion 8
The “citizen reporter channel,” the most
significant feature regarding UGC as
participation described here as doing the
job, was adopted by eight out of 24
papers of the sample. The study shows
that the citizen reporter toolkit is almost
empty of principles or concepts; we
have to explore the differences found by
countries.

Name Newspaper Country
Soy
Corresponsal
La Nación Argentine
Yo Público El Tiempo Colombia
Reportero
Ciudadano
El Universal Mexico
Yo lo vi Milenio Mexico
Cidadao
Repòrtero
Jornal de
Noticias
Portugal
Correio do
Lector
Correio da
Manha
Portugal
Yo, Periodista
(El País)
El País Spain
Yo reportero El Nacional Venezuela

Code of
ethics
Tutorial;
tips to write
a good
story
Citizen reporter channel in La Nación
(Argentine)
Regarding Ethics (3 newspapers), principles mentioned in the
channels
were Truth (3), Accuracy (1), Freedom from bias (2), Fair Play (1)
and Sources should be identified (2).

Conclusion 9
Research on the users´ attitudes,
perceptions and activity regarding the
options given by the papers, their
knowledge of the legal terms affecting
participation and its consequences, as
well as privacy policies and rules will
contribute to greater understanding of
the structures in the user-producer
relationship.

UGC Status and Levels of Control
in Argentine, Colombian, Mexican,
Peruvian, Portuguese, Spanish,
US and Venezuelan Online
Newspapers
Austin, 2009