Opinion: "Citizen journalism" may be misleading term, says NowPublic CEO
Posted by Alisa Zykova on November 7, 2008 at 11:36 AM
"Citizen journalism" may be a misleading label, says NowPublic CEO Leonard Brody. The Web-based Canadian company is involved in "crowdsourced newsgathering" or "participatory journalism" and urges users to publish news stories in numerous formats across different platforms.
"Citizen journalists often have incredible insight and raw, unfiltered, authentic experiences that really add to the content. But where they benefit from a relationship with mainstream media is having journalistic practices and rigor applied to that information so you can have a lot more credibility," said the firm's CMO Michael Tippett. "Conversely, mainstream media benefits from having that kind of material because it provides connection with their communities."
"Citizen journalists often have incredible insight and raw, unfiltered, authentic experiences that really add to the content. But where they benefit from a relationship with mainstream media is having journalistic practices and rigor applied to that information so you can have a lot more credibility," said the firm's CMO Michael Tippett. "Conversely, mainstream media benefits from having that kind of material because it provides connection with their communities."
Both Brody and Tippett think that the desire to share stories is what
drives NowPublic users, whethet they are regular or intermittent
contributors. Since there is a social aspect to NowPublic's
user-generated content, users may not necessarily be discouraged from
working for free.
According to Brody, the economic difficulties various news outlets are facing may increase interest in "participatory journalism" as such. While some may view it as a cost-cutting solution, others may see as a step to boost interaction with audiences.
Social tools may facilitate "crowdsourced newsgathering" but the key is to have many human relationships and "a lot of chaperoning and curating." Brody says that outlets that will succeed are those that put effort and take the matter seriously, as opposed to those who consider it as "labor arbitrage."
NowPublic includes nearly 140,000 contributors across 160 countries around the globe.
Source: Seattlepi.com
According to Brody, the economic difficulties various news outlets are facing may increase interest in "participatory journalism" as such. While some may view it as a cost-cutting solution, others may see as a step to boost interaction with audiences.
Social tools may facilitate "crowdsourced newsgathering" but the key is to have many human relationships and "a lot of chaperoning and curating." Brody says that outlets that will succeed are those that put effort and take the matter seriously, as opposed to those who consider it as "labor arbitrage."
NowPublic includes nearly 140,000 contributors across 160 countries around the globe.
Source: Seattlepi.com
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