University of North TexasDepartment of JournalismOnline Journalism 3340

Oct. 1, 2009

Crowdsourcing - Annotated

Today’s classWebsite of the DayCool tool of the dayReporting News in the DotCom Era

Crowdsourcing, We MediaConvergence and newsroomsSaving newspapers?

CrowdSourcing – “We Media” Coined by Jeff Howe, 2006, Wired News articleIn his words:“crowdsourcing represents the act of a

company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call.

“This can take the form of peer-production (when the job is performed collaboratively), but is also often undertaken by sole individuals. The crucial prerequisite is the use of the open call format and the large network of potential laborers.”

http://www.bnet.com/2422-13950_23-248641.html

Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Crowdsourcing cont.Ability to gather vast amount of

information from a large group“Harnessing the power of community on a

continuing basis to improve the information base”

Beyond a grassroots concept, but as much a journalism tool as a corporate tool

Taking advantage of the “networked” world

“Open source” journalismOld days: proprietaryNow: Here’s what I’m working on, what do you

know?Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Howe’s three types The ProfessionalThe PackagerThe Tinkerer

Source: The Rise of Crowdsourcing, by Jeff Howe, http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html.

Three typesOnline tools allowing “professionals” to

share their workIstockphoto.com

Free image sharing by a group of graphic designersNow, a “marketplace” for the work of amateur

photographers22,000 contributorsCharging $1 - $5 per imageNOW, istockphoto.com is owned by one of the

world’s largest photo image services: Getty Images Getty purchased istockphoto for $30mm

Source: The Rise of Crowdsourcing, by Jeff Howe, http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html.

The PackagerGathering content from multiple sources

Ability to capture content on a similar issue from around the globe – quickly

Report on stories from eyewitnesses – when reporters aren’t on the scene when it happens

Fuel the growth of “citizen journalism”Journalists at every corner

Pew Internet Study: 57 percent of 12 to 17 year olds online – about 12 million folks – creating content and posting

‘ireport” segments on major cable, local TV newsEntertainment/gossip TV and websitesYouTube, Flickr

Source: The Rise of Crowdsourcing, by Jeff Howe, http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/crowds.html.

The TinkererProblem solvers

InnoCentive – research & development’s version of istockphoto

Innovators:Pooling ideas for creative solutionsKnight Foundation: NewsChallenge.com

WikisThe Basics:A Web-based application that allows

people to add, remove, edit and change content through a browser.

The ease of interaction makes wikis an effective tool for collaboration. Wikis can be considered a content management system.

http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/videos/overview/overview.jsp

CrowdSourcingWhy?

Gathering information quickly from multipleEngaging method to involve

readers/viewers/customersEducating a community of users who have

access to a greater variety information to make more informed decisions

Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Crowdsourcing cont.It’s for real

Gannett Corporation – “Information Centers”Prioritize local news over national news; Publish more user-generated content; become 24-7

news operations, in which the newspapers do less and the websites do much more;

Use crowdsourcing methods to put readers to work as watchdogs, whistle-blowers and researchers in large, investigative features.

Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Real ExamplesCincinnati Enquirer – Voter Issues – Nov

2006A Gannett newspapersNewspaper invited readers to submit

information about voter irregularitiesNewspaper posted them on a Google Map

BlackAmericaWeb.com – 2008 ElectionPartnership with NAACP National Voter FundVoters call in to report problemsInteractive map showing call volumesTom Joyner Morning Show driving listeners to

submit comments to the website or a phone line

Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Real ExamplesThe Spokesman-Review

Create reader networksE-mail databases sorted by beat:

Education, Police, Specific citiesCorrespond with sourcesSeek/verify information Gather reader opinion

Why?Ken Sands – created the ‘networks’Interaction occurs before publication – during

information gathering processProactively contacting people you get a wider reaction

than waiting for them to call you

Source: Journalism 2.0 – How to Survive and Thrive – Chapter 4: ‘New Reporting Methods”

Traditional Media InvestingMSNBC & EveryBlock.comExaminer.com & NowPublic.com

http://my.nowpublic.com/home?welcome_id=cf5f91615faec40ec33b0c8cf7cd812a

Story Ideas: Where Do You Begin?

Who is your audience?

Print/Broadcast audience differs from web audience

Local, Regional, National … Global

‘Insatiable desire for information’

What can I add to create a rich, informative online experience?

“...we needed ….to make a special editorial emphasis that goes beyond what the print journal does or what the newswires do. It is a different audience. It is a complementary audience, but it is not the same as print, and we try to meet those information needs.”

- Rich Jaroslovsky, Man. Ed.,

WSJ.com

Where Do You Begin?Traditional Sources

Sources/individuals Newspapers

Local and community Television News Wire Services Observation

Covering a meeting, events Press conferences Documents

Police reports, court filings, press releases

Where Do You Begin?Today: It’s a Two-Way Street

Feedback pages Readers suggestions to editors, specific reporters

Message boards (NOLA.com)

Readers post comments everyone can read

Chat Rooms A dialogue among readers

Online polls (cnn.com, foxnews.com, Boston Globe)

Instant non-scientific reaction to stories, subjects

E-mail Reporters/Editors contact info published

Where Do You Begin? New Reservoirs of Ideas

Groups (Yahoo!, Google, others)

Formerly ‘Usenet’ – broad range of subjects

Blogs (USAToday, NYPost,

Millions of them

Search engines Find sources, studies, special interests

MySpace, Facebook, YouTube!

Personal webpages … from human interest to the absurd

Tech Sites CNet, Mobile News, TechWeb

Trash Into Treasure

It’s boring Who cares? It’s obscure It’s pointless It’s ridiculous It’s a cliche

Interviewee boring

The story has already been done

Nobody wants to read this

Nobody will understand it

Types of News Websites

“Convergence” takes form in various waysUneven development due to:

Size of media companyPhilosophyStrategic Competitive strategy

Types of News Websites

“ShovelwareWhat you read in the daily newspaper or see

on TV is what you see on the websiteCostsStaffingLack of technology/content management systemStrategic decision

All stories written in traditional inverted pyramid style

What are the pros & cons?

Types of News WebsitesPeriodic Updating

Mainly shovelware with some exceptionsBreaking NewsSports stories/scoresSome dedicated staff assigned

Types of News WebsitesContinuous Updating

Combination of shovelware and original packages

Wire-service (AP, Reuters) operation mentality

Sports stories/scoresSpecial ‘web-only’ reportsExtensive interactive features, graphics,

including audio and videoFull-time dedicated staff

Corporate StructureSpecific newspaper brands tied to the

home townDallasnews.comWashingtonpost.comNytimes.com

Umbrella sitesNewhouse News’ Regional Approach

AlabamaLive.comNJ.comClevelandLive.com

Which approach is better? Does it matter?

Digital Storytelling ToolsShovelware out, Within Media InIt’s no place for lazy journalistsDig deeper, report more, drive to find more

sources, quickerNeed to be more accurate and more

thoroughSearch, research and verify

Integration

“Among-media”ShovelwareReproducing newspaper story as-is into

newspaperPosting video from newscast onto the web“I think that the great fear was that we were all

going to turn into three-headed monsters and do three times as much work in eight hours, and you just can’t. And, furthermore, you probably won’t do it that well; particularly in a market this size you can’t afford to have a mediocre person on TV or a mediocre news writer.” Jim Riley, Director of Operations, of TBO.comhttp://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017858030.php

Integration

“Within-media”Great reporting + multimedia using digital

media tools: your pen, paper, digital recorder, digital video camera

Long form narrative meets digital story tellingFully integrated into the story assignment

processAbility for more in-depth coverage

Better interviewsGreater consciousness of photosSelected use of video

Fairness & accuracy still reign

“Easy” Convergence “Difficult” Convergence

-Central to organization’s strategy-Committed and focused leadership-Culture of innovation and risk taking-Coordinating structure-Same ownership-Same values-Aligned systems and processes-Cable television partnerships-Past successes together-Cultures flexible or similar-Collocated-Lack of unions

-Not central; secondary or worse-Other leadership priorities-“Always done it this way”-No coordinating structure-Different ownership-Different values-Systems not aligned-Partnerships with over-the-air broadcaster-Previous problems or no relationship-Cultures not flexible-Located some distance apart-Presence of strong unions

Types of Convergence Storytelling or presentation: Using digital

tools to create new forms of story telling.

Print Broadcast Internet

Types of Convergence Storytelling or presentation: Using digital

tools to create new forms of story telling.

Print Broadcast Internet

The Interactive AudienceShorter lines of communication between

journalists and audienceTraditional Media:

Readers v. Non-readersReaders an ‘amorphous mass’Defined audience – by geography

Circulation, ‘signal’

The Interactive AudienceNow:

Individual, personalized, directEmail addresses for reportersTracking readers: Story by story

Top DownEditors toReaders

Readers in Control

Audience Participation

Participatory journalism - “We Media”

http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php?id=P36