What will ABC Open mean for newspapers?

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on February 5, 2010 at 4:07 PM

Australian public broadcaster the ABC has launched a new digital initiative called ABC Open to feature user-generated content on existing ABC local websites.

The initiative aims to develop the digital skills of local communities to tell their own stories. The reports produced through the project will be published on the broadcaster's local websites and other sites, and may also be distributed on radio, television or mobile platforms.

More than 50 editors and producers, based in local radio offices around the country, will be charged with helping communities design and develop media-rich local stories.

The launch comes just after the ABC announced plans to launch a 24-hour television news channel.

The chief executive of major Australian news publisher Fairfax Media, Brian McCarthy, said that ABC Open could force some Fairfax-owned local newspapers to close.

ABC Open "threatens to undermine the viability of the excellent service commercial media organisations such as Fairfax Media and Rural Press have provided to regional and rural Australia for decades,'' he said. The Fairfax Media group owns Rural Press.

"I do not believe it is the role of the ABC to disrupt the commercial landscape by building empires with public funds."

An ABC spokesman replied that these comments "represent a fundamental misunderstanding" of the project. "This is not about new websites - it's about putting user-generated content on to existing ABC local websites," he said.

"They will be watermarked as ABC Open content but there is no intention of trying to steal audience or advertising business."

This project has the potential to enable local communities to access more relevant news and features. It seems unlikely, though, that the initiative would be able to expand its user-generated coverage to an extent where it would threaten the viability of the established commercial press. It could even be healthy for the local media landscape, promoting a more diverse and relevant range of reporting and improving media literacy in the public.

At the same time, though, with the Australian newspaper industry already facing a crisis, McCarthy's prediction could well prove accurate. And further, when large news organisations take widespread advantage of user-generated content, that is, unpaid labour, is it reasonable to have concerns?

Sources: Mumbrella, The Age, The Australian