The Guardian reports that the Beeb is taking its first official steps towards using user generated content. Their take on things (if I can paraphrase) is that they won’t be paying for many pieces — in fact, very, very few; so don’t get your hopes up.
My feeling is that on the surface it might look like a “so what?” media piece; after all, when something newsworthy happens and your reporters are nowhere near the scene the instant it happens (and barring the development of precogniscient new reporters, it ain’t gonna happen) any news organization will grab footage, pictures, or personal accounts, no matter the quality. All this does, one might say, is codify their policy so that they will be acknowledging and paying for said media.
That might be true.
On the other hand, I think this development in policy is yet another example of how the BBC is taking official strides in emerging pool of “new media” and “citizen journalism”. Some might decry this as a lost opportunity to cultivate something new and revolutionary, which is valid; on the other hand, I see it from a glass-half-full point of view. After all, radicalism is something that probably doesn’t do well at established organizations that have 80 or so years of history.
Where the BBC takes it — what the next steps are in the months and years to come will ultimately tell us how interested it is in this philosophy. It might be waiting, for example, to learn from the mistakes of others. On this side of the pond, Gannett has clearly stripped off its metaphorical clothes and has jumped right into the deep end with its restructuring plans and their planned roles for crowdsourcing.
BBC and the Guardian both are great examples of traditional media trying to do it right. The Beeb should be cautiously congratulated — but I think time will tell about how vested it is in this facet of news reporting.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:05 pm | Permalink
I think you’ve pretty much nailed it Tony. Their hesitancy is completely understandable. Let’s hope that they are successful and will expand the program.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
[...] Dr. Tony Hung shares similar insight: [...]
December 4th, 2006 at 6:42 pm | Permalink
[...] And, just like the BBC, there are vague promises of compensation if your piece does get chosen. The blogosphere has jumped on this piece of news, with Om Malik mentioning that its about time, given how prevalent digital cameras (and cameras on a phone) are; Thomas Hawk weighs in on behalf of potential photojournalists (let’s be above board with how much you’re going to pay them); Natali Del Conte opines on whether or not its a grab for Yahoo to get some free reporting done. [...]
December 4th, 2006 at 11:20 pm | Permalink
[...] Gannett’s Crowdsourcing — Its Just Blogging! (Why Not Just Say It?) December 4th, 2006 at 4:53 pm by Tony Earlier in the year, Gannett, parent company of such news properties about the USA Today, announced that it would take the bold steps toward restructuring the way they delivered the news. I blogged about it over here — but one of the biggest moves was to formalize an initiative to bring in the fold of user generated content, also known as crowdsourcing. The BBC has made strides to do the same sort of thing, but with a report by the Washington Post, it seems like Gannett is jumping with both feet in the water. [...]