In journalism, participatory journalism refers to a common method of engaging the audience through various practices. Of them, the primary types include sources, user feedback, user-generated content, crowdsourcing, and citizen journalism.
Sources are individuals that journalists look towards to add more knowledge and/or information to a story beyond a journalists expertise. This leads to journalists seeking out the opinions from professionals/experts on a given subject or individuals who hold an emotional or personal connection to a story. This type of participatory journalism works as a way to connect everyday people to a story, as they are directly involved with the developing process of the story.
The most common method of user feedback seen in today’s world of online journalism are through comments left under stories. This allows users to voice their thoughts and opinions on the content directly with the publisher. Not only that, but this encourages discussion amongst other users in the comments to further engagement with the published content, leading to more clicks and views.
User-Generated Content gives individuals the ability to directly contribute to a given news publication through their own work. This can be done through photos or videos submitted by users to news publications for their review and may potentially be published in an official story. This is another example of a news publisher developing a relationship with its audience to drive up viewership.
Another common practice of participatory journalism includes crowdsourcing. This encourages a number of users to work together with a story to maximize its efficiency and focus on certain aspects. A popular medium for crowdsourcing is Wikipedia, which gives a number of users the ability to post information found by them through links backing up/verifying their information. The most effective crowdsourcing stories follow very specific instructions towards what a news publication is looking for in a story.
Lastly, citizen journalism features the most intense form of audience participation, often referred to as “pro-am journalism”. This method involves the most hands-on approach for users, as they are often directly apart of the creation process for content within a news organization. Professional journalists work heavily with citizen journalists to help guide them along the creation process for a story before stepping in to make final edits ahead of its publication.
Examples of Online Participatory Journalism
1. Reddit
A recent example I personally encountered was through a subreddit (discussion thread) while job shadowing last month at WMTV 15 News. Around late this past January, Madison experienced what is known as an “ice quake,” where so much pressure builds up in the surrounding land that it causes a sudden crack in the surface. After this, a seismologist (someone who studies earthquakes) posted about what happened on Reddit explaining the event with data to back it up. A day later, that same Reddit post was brought up in the editorial meeting during my job shadow, eventually leading to the reporter covering the story to reach out to the seismologist for an interview. This is an example of utilizing sources for their expertise in an area to provide a further in-depth explanation beyond the reporter’s capabilities.
2. Photo/Video Submission
Journalists can not always be in every place at every moment — that’s when they look to those at the right place at the right time. For example, if a breaking news event occurs (i.e. the ALCS shooting in Madison), someone who lives in a near by neighborhood may be some of the first people to capture the early moments through photo or video. This may lead to news publications/stations reaching out to ask permission to use the person’s content in their own story.
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