the promise and practice of participatory journalism

Alfred HermidaAssociate professorUniversity ofBritish Columbia

Screen FuturesMelbourne 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”

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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

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Community manager Comment moderator

New roles

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Community manager

New roles

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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

Comment moderator

New roles

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspi/

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

Conventional role

Dialogical role

Ambivalent role

Shifts in self-perception

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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

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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

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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

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Perceptions of the audience

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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

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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

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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

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Fortress journalism

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Active recipients

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Thank you

All royalties go to Reporters Without Borders

E: alfred.hermida@ubc.caT: @hermidaW: www.participatoryjournalism.org