Off The Written Path

“…The people formerly known as the audience…”

—Jay Rosen, New York University

It’s time for journalists to give up their high horses and join the crowd. That is the take away message from Chapter 3. Here Mark Briggs makes the point that collaborating with readers is essential in the new world of journalism.  Briggs says that journalists must eliminate the barrier which exists with their audience and embrace how technology can help them maximize that new openness. 

This new form of reporting, which heavily involves the audience, is an opportunity for wider coverage of issues that matter most to readers, Briggs suggests.   

There are three main ways in which the audience is becoming involved in journalism, according to Briggs:

Crowdsourcing: “Reporting based on the work of many people, including your readers,” says Dan Kennedy, media critic and instructor at Northeastern University.

• Example: Haiti.ushahidi.com. During the 2010 earthquake in Haiti people living through the aftermath uploaded emergency reports to the site.

Open-source reporting: Making the reporting process transparent and encouraging feedback from readers by letting readers know the story you are working on.

• Example:  Vartti.fi. Finnish news website that posts story ideas and encourages audience feedback and multimedia submissions, then publishes the resulting stories in several weekly papers.

Pro-am journalism: Also known as citizen journalism or participatory journalism, it is when citizens report their own stories and news organizations facilitate publication.

• Example: Neighborsgo.com or CNN’s iReport.

Citizen reporting is driven by one principle; “…Our readers know more than we do…” says Jeff Howe, the writer who came up with the term “crowdsourcing.”

However, journalists are not obsolete. Briggs points out that there are still valuable skills journalists possess which they can leverage in the new “crowd-powered” journalism environment.

• Briggs says citizens need journalists to add context to information.
• Journalists still have their news judgment, reporting and editing skills to contribute.

Crowdsourcing is about outsourcing the “what” in the five W’s, while journalists still provide the “why.”

What’s the name of your blog? You don’t have one? Slacker. That’s right, in Chapter 2 of “JournalismNext,” Mark Briggs insists that “Every college journalist should have a blog.” Not just any blog, but a good blog.

What is a blog? Well, in my view it’s true information democracy. As Briggs says, anyone can publish with the click of a mouse. Briggs gives some straight forward advice for getting started, or if you do have a blog, he gives advice on how to make your blog better.

First things first. According to Briggs:

• Learn. Understand the blogging language
• Plan. What will be the name of your blog? Is there a catchphrase that can sum up what your blog is about? What is your mission statement, i.e. why does your blog exist?
• Choose. What blog system will you use? Will your blog be hosted by WordPress or Blogger?
• Customize. Make your blog your own. Pick a theme and enhance your layout; add a blogroll, widgets or RSS feeds.

Ultimately, you need people to read your blog. Briggs also goes in-depth on how to build your audience. The most important things he suggests are:

• Publish often, and make it interesting
• Grab attention with your post headlines
• Be part of your blog’s community

Once you have those basics down, Briggs suggests that you should continually look for ways to improve your blog and connect with your audience. Briggs reminds us that a blog is simply another way to transmit news and information, and it can be influential or boring–it’s all up to you.