Journalists need 'new, collaborative ways to tell stories'
(糖心视频Org.com) -- User-generated content may make some in the mainstream media 'uneasy' but it allows journalists to 'explore new, collaborative ways to tell stories', according to a paper published by Oxford University鈥檚 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ).
The word 鈥榰ser鈥� shows that the people once at the end of the production chain have 鈥榰pended the standard order鈥�, writes RISJ report author and award-winning columnist at The Washington Post, John Kelly. He argues in his report Red Kayaks and Hidden Gold that journalists must respond to this changed dynamic.
Mr Kelly, Visiting Fellow at the RISJ, says: 鈥楴ews was a broadcast from one to many. We live in a network age now, where the many can talk to the many, bypassing the one completely.鈥� He points out that, 鈥榯he tables have turned so much that the old producers - the newspapers, the TV news operations - are now users', with the mainstream media continually asking citizens to have their say and citizens obliging.
Commenting on the phrase 鈥榰ser-generated content鈥�, he writes: 鈥楾here is much contained within the phrase to make journalists uneasy. 鈥淐ontent鈥� is a word that calls to mind a commodity, something bland used to fill a hole. 鈥淕enerated鈥� isn鈥檛 much better, suggesting as it does material that鈥檚 created in some vaguely spontaneous way.'
However, the report goes on to highlight the views of supporters of citizen journalism, who argue that it can improve journalism itself. 鈥業t can make them more interested in their communities, it can demystify the political process, it can excite them about the things the best journalism strives to do: explain, crusade, call to account.鈥�
Mr Kelly鈥檚 report sounds a note of caution in its conclusion: 鈥業t can do these things. How often it does do them, and for whom, is something worthy of further study. In the meantime, the question 鈥淪hould there be citizen journalism?鈥� is beside the point. Journalists must accept that the dynamic has changed. They must see the public as more than an inert, monolithic audience. They must explore new, collaborative ways to tell stories.
'Mainstream news outlets that neglect to allow their readers to participate will risk losing those readers. In a culture that increasingly views news as a commodity, users will look for differentiating factors as they choose their news sources. The quality and legitimacy of the product will be aspects - perhaps even the most important ones - but so too will be the extent to which the media responds to its customers and gives them useful tools to customize, share and contribute to the news.'
Provided by Oxford University ( : )
