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Still trying to find the difference between Foursquare, Instagram and Pinterest?
Social media sounds more complicated than it is. I like it when someone demystifies it. I like it better when someone uses a ‘dumb screen’ instead of gratuitously holding up some tablet (as do too many TV news reporters today, notice?) to make a point. Thanks to Douglas Ray for this.
This might help!
Speaking of white boards, this feels like an homage to the late Tim Russert (of NBC’s Meet the Press) who was a master of the white board when trying to simplify an idea in a story.
I sometimes wonder if Tim would have ever clutched at an iPad to make his point as he did here, during the last election.
If you’re interested here’s the video of his explanation to Brian Williams.
This article was published by LMD magazine this month.
“This is not good anymore… Once the battery charges, I’m going to download it from the camera and stream it to you live. I mean, I don’t believe this is happening. Seriously, I don’t believe this is happening…”
They were the last words of one of the bravest citizen journalists of our time – Libyan Mohammed Nabbous, killed in Benghazi in March (find the story at http://bit.ly/LMD0811)
When we talk about citizen journalism, we think of accidental reporters who, in the face of a catastrophic event, grab a cellphone and capture a story that would otherwise never have been recorded.
Many in the West recall the first heartbreaking reports of the 2004 Asian tsunami, captured by citizens in Sri Lanka. Commuters, not trained reporters, provided the first grainy videos when terrorists bombed subways and buses in London in 2005. Likewise, the first images of the dramatic ‘splash landing’ of an US Airways flight into the Hudson River in Manhattan were captured by a citizen journalist. But like those in mainstream media who have put themselves in harm’s way (those like Daniel Pearl of The Wall Street Journal, who was killed in 2002; and Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Misrata, in Libya recently), citizen journalists are following in their footsteps.
Now that large media organisations have downsized, citizen journalists are often filling the gaps.
Whether we approve of them or not, they are often the first responders, covering a broad range of events – wars, hurricanes, earthquakes, elections, civil unrest, famines and terrorism – that seem to be taking place with greater frequency these days.
Media Test Kitchen. There are many questions of course, as this ‘accidental profession’ shows signs of turning more professional (‘Pro’) than amateur (‘Am’). How will established news-media organisations deal with this new phenomenon? Or the more pertinent question is, how will governments adapt to this reality?
First to the Pro-Am relationship. In the early years, the Pros were sceptical. Yet, more recently across the world, as mainstream media organisations began cutting back on staff, this gave rise to newsrooms where Pros could be sought after (or outsourced) like Ams. Steve Outing, Director of the Digital Media Test Kitchen, once observed that “few news organisations have the manpower to cover everything that their readers are interested in, but by tapping the volunteer (or cheap) resources of the citizenry, a news organisation can potentially provide coverage down to the little league team and church-group level, as well as offer better and more diverse coverage of broader issues by bringing in more voices and perspectives”.
In 2006, probably the turning point of citizen journalism, the BBC announced that it would in fact pay Ams for their contributions that could include video footage taken and saved on cellphones. The BBC’s Director of Global News Richard Sambrook observed how invaluable citizens’ input had been in reporting the London bombings the previous year: “Within six hours, we received more than 1,000 photographs, 20 pieces of amateur video, 4,000 text messages and 20,000 emails. People were participating in our coverage in a way we had never seen before.” (For a discussion of the struggle between Pros and Ams, listen to the BBC report at http://bbc.in/LMD 0711)
Sambrook called this new phenomenon ‘open-source journalism’, where there was collaboration between a Pro and his or her readers on a story. In other words, the Pros were working alongside the Ams!
Indeed, citizen journalism has pushed the boundaries of traditional journalism. Just like the BBC, many major news organisations have begun tacking on a citizen-powered news stream, and it is becoming more of a hybrid. And the vast number of events taking place in parts of the world that are hard to access has created the perfect conditions for niche-media outlets.
In Libya, a citizen journalist noted the following: ‘Before the revolution, there was only one newspaper that belonged to the Government. But after the revolution, now there are almost five…” He appeared jubilant that even he could play a small part in making that happen.
His profession – when he isn’t a citizen reporter – is…? A dentist!
Just this June, The New York Times opened up a story for citizen participation in making sense of a trove of email records (24,199 in all) from Sarah Palin, released by the Governor’s Office in Juneau, in Alaska: “We’re asking readers to help us identify interesting and newsworthy emails, people and events that we may want to highlight. Interested users can fill out a simple form to describe the nature of the email, and provide a name and email address so we’ll know who should get the credit.”
Likewise, The Washington Post invited readers, saying: “That’s a lot of email for us to review, so we’re looking for some help from Fix readers to analyse, contextualise and research those emails right alongside Post reporters over the days following the release.”
Note the words ‘alongside Post reporters’. To qualify, people didn’t need to have a degree in journalism… just a computer and an internet connection!
Others have been cooking up different recipes in the test kitchen of citizen participation. Media observers have been calling it ‘non-profit journalism’ and ‘grassroots journalism’.
“Non-profit journalism organisations as well as citizen journalists are producing news that too often is overlooked by traditional media,” observes Jason Stverak, President of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a non-profit journalism organisation.
The distinction between online journalists and those who write in to newspapers and magazines or work in radio or TV are disappearing, and their skill sets are being cross-pollinated. Stverak rightly says that “not all those who write online stories are journalists yet, but the ones who are should get the same access and treatment as those few still employed by newspapers, television and radio”.
For the Ams (who are often videographers, bloggers and podcasters), access and ‘treatment’ are sticky issues. Consider the following. Even when it comes to major events such as the World Economic Forum (where bloggers and YouTubers provide up-to-the-minute and live coverage), press accreditation is reserved for ‘all accredited media’. Three bloggers who called themselves ‘alternative journalists’ sued the New York Police Department for giving them the cold-shoulder treatment – by denying them press credentials.
In the UK, the Tameside Council (a borough of Manchester) ruled that bloggers could not be permitted to tweet, since they were technically not members of the press corps. The council however permitted the Manchester Evening News and the Tameside Reporter to use Twitter during its meetings. In many instances like this, a person needs to prove that he or she is an ‘accredited representative’ of the press.
Which begs the question: would someone like Nabbous have been considered an accredited member? Probably not!
Jay Rosen, a promoter of the Pro-Am model for many years and a journalism professor at New York University, thinks that the profession has not been making much progress in this area – for the simple reason that the Pros have not been making it easy for citizens.
“The ergonomics of participation in Pro-Am journalism are poorly understood. We don’t have enough experts in it,” he says. In order to engage people in this model of reporting, “they need to see and feel the connection between the small part they are asked to contribute and the big story that will result”.
Then there is the credibility factor. Citizen journalists do not have the built-in reputation of a news organisation, especially if they are working solo. But this has been changing. As the BBC’s Michael Buerk noted while talking to an Egyptian citizen journalist, “it’s not important because of what old-style journalism can’t do, but for what they won’t do”.
There is an upside to all of this, not just for the media but for communities and for democracy. The ‘inconvenient truths’ in a functioning democracy, says Sanjana Hattotuwa, Editor of citizen-journalism outfit Ground Views, is that with citizen participation “you risk the multiplicity of voices and strengthen media literacy”.
And yes, it is messy… but you end up with an informed citizenry, which isn’t a bad payoff. They, the hoi polloi, decide on which media they will believe – and as has been the case in Iran and Egypt until recently, they often do not believe the official narrative coming from the mainstream media.
Professional Amateurs. Some ex-journalists and entrepreneurs have spotted opportunities in this space and begun to create business models, albeit non-profit businesses. One of them, The Uptake (www.theuptake.org), is a ‘citizen-fuelled news organisation’.
“Online tools will not solve community development,” says The UpTake. It stresses the need for a different type of citizen journalist – the Professional Amateur.
It also explains how one person wearing many hats is not the norm in citizen-fuelled news. Shooting the video, editing the story and publishing it online is more than what a Pro-Am ought to be asked to do.
Uptake recommends three core areas a citizen-fuelled organisation needs to focus on: train, organise and crowd-source. More importantly, it looks at citizen journalism not as a reactive means to cover a story as it breaks.
The co-founder of The UpTake Chuck Olsen calls it “committing an act of journalism” – meaning, going out there and finding the story, not reacting to it. “Most acts of citizen journalism are simply documenting something – a London subway cellphone photo, for example. And that’s very important,” he notes.
But as the model matures and takes on a Pro-Am status, Olsen calls for more: “We want to elevate citizen journalism from being reactive to being proactive. Go out and find stories that interest you, and provide some training on how to capture and tell that story.”
What does this look like?
Sure, a dead tree. But what did it give up its life for? Hint: It’s part of an outdoor campaign for forest conservation in China.
You’ll never rip open a pack of chopsticks again, just to play with it in a restaurant.
I just can’t resist campaigns like this where words become unnecessary. The trees were made from 80,000 pairs of used chopsticks, and ‘planted’ in public squares.
However if you prefer words, interactive outdoor is so much more powerful than some of the boring, static billboards we see around town for business schools, restaurants, movies. Check this out: passers by are encouraged to text in their message, and watch as the words get changed to display it.
“But it’s when you become the punch line on The Colbert Report that you know you’ve made the big time.”
Bill Goodykoontz, columnist at the Arizona Republic, commenting on Stephen Colbert’s ripping of Arizona’s new immigration bill –that was signed by governor Jan Brewer into law on Friday.
“facebook seems to be down – mass suicides worldwide predicted – story at 11″
Tweet by mmelnick, (musician, vegetarian, animal lover, truth seeker) who also re-tweeted “Attention humans: Facebook isn’t “down”. It’s become self-aware & will soon launch nuclear weapons. I’m pressing the “Lik …”
“Trees are a renewable resource, and paper can be recycled, recovered and used to make paper again. … Make print a valuable part of your communications mix.”
The argument behind Print Grows Trees, a campaign by Print Graphics Association Mid Atlantic (PGAMA) a not-for-profit trade association
“…uncomfortably close to advocating sexting”
The creepy Kin video ad that Microsoft had to pull for obvious reasons
“I think smaller- and medium-sized agencies make the transition from traditional to social-enabled PR much easier than larger agencies.”
Jason Baer, in a Twintervirw with Bob Reed of PRSA, where he also talked about ‘the science and math of social media.’
Heard about Unvarnished?
Tech Crunch’s Evelyn Rusli has a great analysis of taking our ability to trash anyone online to a logical conclusion. I thought this was a very powerful statement about a new
“My guess is that many will be seduced by the dark powers of the internet (the power to hammer an adversary under the guise of anonymity).”
Unvarnished is still in Beta so unless we try out the service we won’t know what it entails. Maybe it is not another site that attracts dirty linen basket cases. Maybe they do have a great idea, based on their description: That it is going to be “community-contributed, business-focused assessments” about “building, managing, and researching professional reputation” and “professional reviews.” They do advice being fair and balanced.
“However, with the right to share candid opinions comes the responsibility to do so in a balanced way. Be honest, but be fair. Only review people you have a professional relationship with. Only discuss business-related topics. And remember, reviewers earn an authority rating over time, based on how others rate their reviews, so it is in the best interest of reviewers and the community to leave helpful reviews.”
But it brings up a point I have always wanted to talk about. Beside the power to say things under a false identity, the ‘dark side’ to me is how easy it is to use (misuse) our channels and our tools to say things just because we can.
- It’s so easy to trash a brand because we have a network
- It’s way too easy to make our bad experience with a product seem like it is an universal problem, when the truth is we may have bought a lemon, which yes, needs to be replaced
- It’s easy to spread an idea we didn’t originate when the premise may be flawed
As you can see, I am not prepared to support Techcrunch’s view of Unvarnished, until I have tried it out.
Have to say I have, in the past, often used a social platform as a soap box. Now I think thrice before I do so. Often it is only after repeated attempts to use the traditional fix-it channels.
On the other hand, I know of plenty of examples where someone using a tweet has had a better, immediate response than a call to the 1-800 number. Maybe Twitter is the new 1800 customer complaint number staffed by real people. I know of someone who now has what amounts his own ‘concierge service’ and a good friend at a service company only because he used Twitter to not just bitterly complain but to start a conversation.
It’s darn too easy to stack your dirty linen baskets, rather than do a bit of work, turn a few knobs and engage the ‘machine’ to clean them up.
Whatever happened to positive feedback?
I was on the phone with my sister-in-law, a teacher in Sri Lanka, who complained that many young people are losing their ability to hold conversations, just while I was reading something at BBC, where the co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams states that Twitter intends it to facilitate an “open exchange of information.” I take it he means more dialog, better communication.
She: These people have way too much information in their heads and on their phones that they don’t communicate.
He: “Our goal at Twitter is to be a force for good”
She: “They don’t know how to write anymore, ..all this texting.”
He: “I think it will be how you get personal, customised information from every entity you care about, from your local café to your government, from your politician to your friends and family.”
I know we all see different parts of the anatomy of this elephant in the room. I promote micro-blogging as a way to connect the dots, and integrate with other forms of communication. But not at the expense of analog or ‘old media’ tools. Sometimes, the best way to chat is to pick up the phone, or walk over to the person in the next room or cubicle.
My eternal challenge to communicators is: When was the last time you wrote a letter?
Writing fires up different circuits in the brain. I subscribe to the idea that ‘writing is decision-making‘ with a specific person or narrow audience in mind. Not just sending off random thoughts in 140 characters. I love what Mr. Williams’ company has opened up. I just hope it makes people better communicators, not message generators.
“Right, I think I’ve got it. It’s a mixture of Facebook’s more intimate networking and Twitter’s broadcast style.”
Rory Cellan-Jones reviewing Buzz, the social application from Google
“It is not the first time Google has tried to launch a social network.”
BBC.co.uk on Google taking on Facebook and Twitter
“Ashton Kutcher, who is famous for being married to Demi Moore, who is famous for having been married to Bruce Willis, is its high priest. This is the avatar of our new global culture. Wow.”
Michael Dentandt, at Trentonian
“I’m not tied to the term “citizen journalism … it’s going through an evolution. We’re just adding another voice.
Amra Tareen, CEO of Allvoices.com a citizen journalism who says that that in this period of displacement in journalism, the community judges the value of content.
“The whole country watches the Super Bowl, the whole country knows the score, and we get it wrong? Preposterous. Unbelievable. Embarrassing.”
Dennis Finley, Editor of a Virginia newspaper, the Pilot, on accidentally publishing a story that had probably been a placeholder for a possible win by the Colts over the Saints.
“Your paper makes a HUGE error and I am supposed to pay you $79 for a corrected framable(yes I am a Saintas fan)version!”
Reader responding to the Editor who also wrote that the the ‘error’ in question, in print, could be ordered from the web site for those who buy sports fronts suitable for framing! The reader continued: “Do the accountable thing and make the reprint available for free..I know when pigs fly right. WHO DAT!”
“Now, we all know that whether someone liked or disliked a spot is a bad proxy for effectiveness.”
Michael Learmonth, in AdAge, commenting on the high popularity of Google ad than ran during the Super Bowl –popular among among online audiences, that is . He also noted that “online popularity can start to wag the dog offline.”
“What people need to understand is that Forrester is an intellectual property company, and the opinions of our analysts are our product. Blogging is an extension of the other work we do — doing research, writing reports, working with clients, and giving speeches, for example.”
Josh Bernoff, on Forrester’s new blogging policy.
“Aren’t we all already swimming under copious amounts of status updates and shared media coming from services like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Foursquare, etc.? Do we need another social filtering system?”
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