Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group 2010 Abstracts
Citizen Journalism and Cognitive Processing: An experiment on the perceived intent of traditional versus citizen journalism sources • Heather E Akin, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Melissa Tully, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Gerald Stoecklein, UW Madison; Hernando Rojas, University of Wisconsin-Madison • “Using a three-wave longitudinal design with an embedded web-based experiment, this study considers whether manipulating the source of a news report (citizen journalism versus traditional journalism) affects perceived thought-provoking motivations. Results show that respondents perceive a citizen journalism source as intending to be more thought provoking about food issues than a traditional news source. Moreover, previous levels of engagement suggest that those who are less engaged with an issue are the ones who are more likely to see a citizen journalism source as intending to make them think. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.”
Paper bridges: a critical examination of the Daily Dispatch’s Community Dialogues • Rod Amner, Rhodes University • “A South African commercial newspaper, the Daily Dispatch, last year facilitated a series of town-hall-like meetings called the Community Dialogues at a number of townships and suburbs in the city of East London. Drawing on theories of social capital as well as critiques of Habermas’s notion of the public sphere, this article examines the first two Community Dialogues, which took place in neighbouring locations – the middle class suburb of Beacon Bay and the informal African settlement of Nompumelelo – on consecutive days. It is critical of claims made by the newspaper that, following the precepts of public journalism, these Dialogues are effective in forming horizontal ‘connecting bridges’ within and between different geographical zones and heterogeneous social groups in the city. It also critiques the idea that the Dialogues currently provide a forum for public deliberation – and possible consensus formation – between these zones and social groups. Very little journalism has so far been produced under the banner of public journalism in South Africa and there is consequently little research on this topic in this country. This paper hopes to fill a gap in the research literature around the applicability and usefulness of the theories and practices of public journalism in the South African context and also hopes to address the gap in the global civic journalism research literature around the use of community forums in civic journalism.”
Empowering citizen journalists. A South African case study • Guy Berger, Rhodes University • “Seldom unpacked in the notion of “citizen journalism” is the convergence of “citizenship” and “journalism”. This paper examines Grocott’s Mail newspaper in South Africa, which is integrating youth participation through cellphones. This initiative operates with the assumptions that media participation in the form of specifically mobile “citizen journalism”, as distinct from broad User-Generated Content, needs explicit focus on the meanings of citizenship and journalism, and on the mindsets and skills that go with these.”
Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Newsgathering • Amani Channel, Student • “For nearly sixty years, scholars have studied how information is selected, vetted, and shared by news organizations. The process, known as gatekeeping, is an enduring mass communications theory that describes the process by which news is gathered and filtered to audiences. It has been suggested, however, that in the wake of online communications the traditional function of media gatekeeping is changing. The infusion of citizen-gathered media into news programming is resulting in what some call a paradigm shift. As mainstream news outlets adopt and encourage public participation, it is important that researchers have a greater understanding of the theoretical implications related to participatory media and gatekeeping. This study will be among the first to examine the adoption of citizen journalism by a major cable news network. It will focus on CNN’s citizen journalism online news community called iReport, which allows the public to share and submit “unfiltered” content. Vetted submissions that are deemed newsworthy can then be broadcasted across CNN’s networks, and published on CNN.com. This journalism practice appears to follow the thoughts of Nguyen (2006), who states that, “future journalists will need to be trained to not only become critical gate-keepers but also act as listeners, discussion and forum leaders/mediators in an intimate interaction with their audiences.” The goal of the paper is to lay a foundation for understanding how participatory media is utilized by a news network to help researchers possibly develop new models and hypotheses related to gatekeeping theory.”
Perceived Role Conceptions of Citizen and Professional Journalists: Citizens’ Views • Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky; Seungahn Nah, University of Kentucky • “This study aims to identify citizen journalists’ role conceptions regarding their journalistic news contributing activities and their perceptions regarding professional journalists’ role conceptions. Based on a national survey of 130 citizen journalists, four factors emerged for both citizen and professional journalists’ role conceptions: interpreter, adversary, facilitator and mobilizer. Perceptions of civic journalism values were also examined. Analyses reveal that citizen journalists perceive their roles to be generally similar to professional journalistic roles. Furthermore, respondents rated certain roles to be more prominent functions for citizen journalists. In particular, the citizen journalist role of facilitator was rated as significantly more important than those of the traditional press.”
Incremental versus Impressionistic: Seeking Credibility Differences in Online Political News • Daniel Doyle, Ohio University; Chen Lou, Ohio University; Hans Meyer, Ohio University • This study uses the research technique of online survey to gauge credibility perceptions in Internet political news during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaigns. Researchers experiment for effects in perceptions of credibility in a style of short and incremental professional news stories — a style which a popular press writer has dubbed the scooplet — and the diary-like impressionist style of long-form and somewhat informal unpaid citizen journalism. The study contains a review of online credibility research which establishes that user-generated content forges a stronger social connection between content consumer and content creator. This study tests a hypothesis that consumers of online political news perceive user-generated blog entries to be more credible than professionally-produced political news stories.
Alternative and Citizen Journalism: Mapping the Conceptual Differences • Farooq Kperogi, Georgia State University • “Although it is customary for some scholars to conflate citizen media and alternative media, I argue in this paper that they are different. In the new media literature, citizen journalism is conceptualized as online “news content produced by ordinary citizens with no formal journalism training.” Alternative journalism, on the other hand, is not merely non-professionalized and non-institutionalized journalism produced by ordinary citizens; it is also purposively counter-hegemonic and “closely wedded to notions of social responsibility, replacing an ideology of ‘objectivity’ with overt advocacy and oppositional practices.””
Can This Marriage Be Saved? The Love-Hate Relationship Between Traditional Media and Citizen Journalism • Jan Leach, Kent State University; Jeremy Gilbert, Northwestern University • “This paper examines the interplay between traditional newsrooms and non-traditional media in three different markets. It looks at how Fourth Estate journalists interact with Fifth Estate media practitioners and explains similarities and differences in how information is collected and presented online. Several examples of traditional media and new media relationships are identified. The study evaluates whether Fourth and Fifth Estate entities can co-exist and asks: What is the outlook for marriage, or at least a lasting relationship, between traditional media and new media?”
Explicating Conversational Journalism: An Experimental Test of Wiki, Twittered and Collaborative News Models • Doreen Marchionni, Pacific Lutheran • “The concept of journalism as a conversation has been richly explored in descriptive studies for decades. Largely missing from the literature, though, are clear operational definitions and empirical data that allow theory building for purposes of explanation and prediction. This controlled experiment sought to help close that gap by first measuring the concept of conversation, then testing it on key outcome measures of perceived credibility and expertise in three online contexts: Wikinews, “Twittered” news and Thorson and Duffy’s (2006) “collaborative” style of news. Findings suggest that conversational journalism is a powerful, multi-dimensional news phenomenon, but also nuanced and fickle. The conversational features of perceived similarity to a journalist and online interactivity are key, not only in distinguishing this type of news but in predicting its perceived credibility and expertise. Somewhat problematic is the conversational feature of informality, or casualness, with an audience. There, results suggest journalists can easily cross a line with readers to the detriment of trust.”
Hungry for News: How Celiac sufferers learn from media, each other • Mitch McKenney, Kent State University • “Celiac Disease, an inherited autoimmune disorder that chronically disrupts the digestive system, leads to health problems unless the sufferer avoids gluten-containing foods. As awareness of the condition has grown, so have the options for Celiacs to connect. This paper examines the online interaction and sharing of news/information among members of the Celiac “community,” using interviews with those dealing in that information, to explore the resources they turn to for news and support.”
Bloggers’ Demographics, Blogging Activities, and Identity Disclosure • nohil park, Missouri University; JiYeon Jeong, Missouri School of Journalism; Clyde Bentley, Missouri School of Journalism • “Despite the critical role that the identity of blog authors plays in making blogs credible information sources, few studies have suggested empirical mechanisms that lead to bloggers’ identity self-disclosure. This study aims to examine whether bloggers’ demographics and blogging activities (blog use, interactivity, and popularity) have influence on identity disclosure. Results from the analysis of an online survey of 906 Korean bloggers reveal that male and older bloggers who have professional jobs (journalist, lawyer, professor, etc.) are more likely to identify themselves on their blogs rather than others. Moreover, bloggers who have high levels of blog interactivities (commenting, linking trackbacks) are more likely to reveal their identity. However, the time of general blog use and number of visitors to blogs are not any association with bloggers’ identity disclosure. This study suggests that bloggers do not hide nor express their identity according to the stay and popularity in the blogosphere, but they disclose their identity depending on their individual differences and interactivities with their blogging partners.”
What’s in a (Missing) Name? Newspaper Online Forum Participants Sound Off about Civility and Anonymity • Jack Rosenberry, St. John Fisher College” • “A survey of participants in online comment forums associated with traditional newspapers indicated that while they dislike the rude nature of the commentary made there, and consider anonymity a proximate cause of that behavior, they still are supportive of keeping the forums anonymous. However, differences in support for anonymity were found on the basis of frequency of participation and on degree of aversion to the negativity. This reflects the same mixed results found in the general literature on anonymous computer-mediated communication, which documents how anonymity’s benefits to participation and open expression are balanced off against the lack of accountability that leads to flaming.”
Blogging the Meltdown: Comparing the Coverage of the Economic Crisis in Journalistic Blogs vs. Non-Journalistic Blogs • Hong Ji, The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism; Michael Sheehy, University of Cincinnati • “This content analysis examines coverage of the U.S. economic crisis of 2008-2009 by 25 economics blogs. The study sought to identify differences in the coverage by bloggers identified as journalists and non-journalists. The study found that journalist bloggers and non-journalist bloggers focused on different dominant topics in their blog posts, indicating different perspectives in the framing of coverage. The study also found differences in the way that journalist and non-journalist bloggers cited sources and hyperlinks.”
Reconsidering citizen journalism- An historical analysis • Justin Walden, Pennsylvania State University • “The rise of Web 2.0 publishing platforms has understandably had a dramatic impact on a number of different communication processes and fields in recent years. One area that has been profoundly influenced by the newfound ability for “regular” Internet users to self publish is citizen journalism. This theoretical paper examines current and historical perspectives on the citizen journalism movement, giving particular heed to a review of how recent Internet technologies have given amateur reporters far more reach and influence. This graduate-student produced article traces how today’s political bloggers and videographers are countering some centuries-old journalism practices and rechanneling the activism that guided Thomas Paine and other American Revolutionaries. This paper concludes that citizen journalism today is poised to follow a similar historical trajectory of legacy media from the 18th century. This article also argues that academic scholarship needs to shed further light on this trajectory and the seemingly inevitable standardization that will occur with citizen journalism newsgathering practices and presentation styles.
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