“The war is over. There is no new media vs old media anymore. The old battle between the professional and citizen journalist is also at an end – we are all on the same side.”- Charlie Beckett, Press Gazette
This was the conclusion that the esteemed journalist and academic Charlie Beckett reached during his coverage of the Networked Journalism Summit held around this time last year in New York. Beckett’s statement could be regarded as a capitulation on the part of the professional press, but labelling it in such terms is, quite frankly, shortsighted and unrealistic.
Anyone familiar with my previous blog entries will be well aware of my labouring the issue of citizen journalism, and the reconfiguration of the online media. Whatever our personal opinions on the subject, we can no longer ignore or deny its existence. Journalism is, after all, a profession routed in networks and the interchanging of information and views. “Networked Journalism” is perhaps the logical conclusion to this fact.
Networked Journalism: I can almost hear the collective groan from those of you already queasy from the glut of industry jargon. Yes that’s right! In a media climate awash with cliches and keywords, I now have the nerve to foist yet another soundbite upon your buzzword-addled brains. So what does Networked Journalism actually equate to? According to Beckett:
“Networked journalism means opening up the production process from start to finish…a very practical thing that takes traditional journalism and liberates it through public participation.”- Charlie Beckett, Press Gazette
To illustrate this point one only needs to look at websites such as and Newassignment.net and the up and coming Spot.us. Spot.us aims to truly embody network journalism online, non-profit forum where people are encouraged to find stories from within their own communities.
The story is pitched to other community members who decide whether they want the story followed up by investing their own money into it. A journalist then researches and produces the copy and hey presto! The story is published online.
Spot.us represents a very exciting new concept on a number of levels. Firstly, it uses crowdsourcing to uncover niche news stories of the kind usually discarded by established media. The stories themselves are approved by the readership so, unlike traditional reporting where a journalist will decide what is newsworthy, the stories that emerge from the site already have a popular mandate.
Spot.us is not actually up and running yet, so it’s premise is yet to be put into practice. Potentially however, Spot.us could be the start of something very big indeed.
That is not to say that networked journalism hasn’t already made an impact on society.
Networked journalism empowers members of the public, by encouraging them to participate in the news making process. It also enables journalists to re-engage with their audience, and better understand their interests and needs.
In retrospect, the title to this blog is itself misguided. A “white flag” suggests that the press has surrendered to an opponent, and is joining forces with it under duress. The moment journalists begin to regard their audience as “the enemy”, something is wrong.
The audience form the life-blood of the profession, and alienating them is the last thing any sensible journalist would wish to do. Networked journalism represents a real opportunity for the industry to reinvigorate itself:
“To retain value journalism must engage with the public. It must shift power from the newsroom to the connected online and digital world. It must become “networked” – Charlie Beckett, opendemocracy.net
