The document discusses how journalism is loosening up due to social media and new technologies. It notes the acceleration of news cycles, the emergence of collective behaviors online without leaders, and new generational expectations of speed and instant access. Traditional institutions struggle with operating in real-time. New approaches are needed to embrace social media opportunities without just recycling old methods. Successful organizations thriving in this environment are trusting, agile, informal, and collaborative rather than hierarchical and bureaucratic.

1. Social Media & the Loosening Up of Journalism Martin Thomas @crowdsurfing

8. From Readers to Collaborators Collaborative Journalism “ mutualisation” = “getting readers to care about, inform and enhance our coverage” Meg Pickard

16. Nordstrom Revisited “ Prescriptive rules have the effect of infantilising staff & make it harder for them to adapt to different situations. This goes as much for digital communications as for selling socks … Like the Nordstrom handbook we’re trusting staff to follow the spirit, not just the letter, of our guidelines” Meg Pickard, writing about The Guardian’s new social media guidelines, November 2010

19. www.crowdsurfing.net @crowdsurfing