Grassroots journalism, 2007 style:

•Last summer, Omni 2007 drew participants from around the world to discuss the impact of citizen journalism. The forum was sponsored by Seoul-based OhmyNews, the online newspaper whose motto is, “Every citizen is a reporter.”

• In New York, a meetup Web site spawns a discussion group on citizen journalism. Its 87 members, a mixture of start-up founders, amateurs and professional journalists from the likes of AP, MSNBC and The New York Times, debate the right business model for citizen journalism.

•Media monitoring site On Publishing 2.0 (www.publishing2.com) reviews the impact About.com has on New York Times’ Web revenues. The site, which draws on the experiences of some 500 guides who offer advice and information about a variety of topics, kicks in nearly 30 percent of The Times’ online sales.

•Ethnologist Danah Boyd talks about the immense need social networks such as Facebook and MySpace have for information.

These are just a few examples of the way in which media observers, financial analysts, philosophers and others are jumping with passion on a trend they have difficulty defining. Whether called citizen journalism, grassroots journalism or the pro-am revolution, it’s all being summarized under the unattractive name of “user-generated content.”

Taking off the filter

Clearly, the time has come when the old idea of “conversational media” has genuinely taken off. It’s now time for journalists to include, as an integral part of their working day, a dialog with their readers.

That means news executives need to gain more everyday insight into public opinion.

Holding back the flow is impossible: If you try, it will merely resurface in a multitude of other destinations: blogs, MySpace, YouTube and dozens of others.

This dizzying volume of words, photos and videos distributed free of charge all over the Internet is a veritable, unfiltered mine of creativity, richness and initiatives.

Whether we think that the contributions make sense or do not, whether they are credible or not, does not count. This movement regulates itself in an ongoing discussion and in the process criticizes the routines and professional practices of the media.

This “fifth power” already has its international stars with famous bloggers and the emergence of sites from the citizen journalism movement. It is also interesting to note that the most interesting ones emanate from dissident journalists from the traditional media: OhmyNews in Korea, Rue89 in France or Blogosphere in Italy: professionals who draw on the collaboration of large numbers of amateur journalists.

Erasing the clique

The main drive behind the citizen journalism movement is the idea that “mainstream journalism is a sort of clique, a club that is closed or at least very difficult to break into,” said Feargall Kenny, founder of the start-up Citizen Image. But it also reflects consumers’ frustration over how the media covers information.

“In general, people are not looking to become amateur news reporters,” said Steve Yelvington, vice president of strategy and content for Morris DigitalWorks. “They’re primarily looking to join in Internet conversations that meet a number of very personal needs, and those conversations can touch on topics from the mundane to the profound.

“The important thing for us to recognize is that all of those conversations —including the mundane — are valuable and help people build the relationships that enable meaningful community interaction to take place. Small talk is important. This process of building ‘social capital’ lays the foundation for a community, whether it’s a community of geography or of interest.”

Newspapers’ participation in the vast movement of user-generated content may well become the spark fueling the integration of Web and print journalism. It’s a “learning by doing” process that covers everyone.

Consider The Guardian’s grassroots strategy: The U.K. newspaper hosts a dedicated site for readers’ comments, interspersing selections from the best blogs to broaden its reach and value (http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk).

 

Blog’s impact

Blogs, whether authored by readers or newspaper writers, will be a vital element for newspapers. Success will require a strategy to encourage the best contributors and the use of cross-promotional tools such as del.icio.us, digg and others.

In his excellent blog (http://editor.blogspot.com) aimed at journalists attached to the newsrooms of the McClatchy group, Howard Weaver, vice president of news, recently wrote: “One of the innovations arriving with our redesigned national Web site is the introduction of more blogs from foreign correspondents. I think they are remarkable. I’d go so far as to suggest, even on the scant evidence to date, that the blog format may well emerge as one of the most potent forms of foreign correspondence. We’re looking for a way to make print summaries or teasers available to you for publication.”

Naturally, this type of enthusiasm leads others to consider how they should redesign their Web sites to fully participate in the user-generated content movement.

Proceed carefully, said Howard Owens, director of digital publishing at Gatehouse Media.

“A redesign is not technically necessary, but most newspaper sites need a reworking from the ground up anyway,” he said.

“Ideally, you view your site not as a newspaper online, but as a hub for community sharing and participation. News updates are the anchor of the site, but really only about 20 percent of what the site is about. Participation, deep and broad data resources and advertising are also essential elements. Be the platform and design accordingly. If you’re designing around participation, just as if you’ve designed around news, you’re not envisioning all your site can and should be.”

This article was first published in newspaper techniques, the monthly magazine of Ifra. If you have any comments or questions about this article, please send them to ntreader@ifra.com.