Social journalism
Social journalism is a media model consisting of a hybrid of professional
Medium, BuzzFeed, Soapbox and Gawker. The model, which in some instances has generated monthly audiences in the tens of millions, has been discussed as one way for professional journalism to thrive despite a marked decline in the audience for traditional journalism.[1]
Publishers as platforms
Writing in
Storyful, now a division of News Corp., proposed "10 Principles that Power Social Journalism," including "UGC (user-generated content) is governed by the same legal and ethical code as any other content" and "The currency of social journalism is authenticity not authority. We are not experts in every subject."[4][5]
The new rules
On April 1, 2014, in a column in
FastCompany.com president Ed Sussman, an early adopter of the model.[6] Ingram summarized these suggestions, including clear labeling types of contributors (e.g. staff, guest contributor, reader contribution); establishing guidelines, such as conflict of interest rules, that posters must consent to before posting; providing wiki-like tools for social improvements to content; elevating the best content with curators and algorithms; deleting weak or problematic content via curators or algorithms.[6]
Social journalism was attacked by media critic Michael Wolff in USA Today as the "Forbes vanity model letting ‘contributors’ write whatever they want under your brand (‘as I wrote in Forbes …’) and not having to pay them anything — ultimately, of course, devaluing your authority."[7]
In a March 20, 2014
Pando Daily, on March 29, 2014.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Sussman, Ed. "Why Michael Wolff is Wrong". New York Observer. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ "M.A. in Social Journalism". www.journalism.cuny.edu. 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ Glick, Jonathan (7 February 2014). "Rise of the Platishers". Re/Code. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ Little, Mark. "10 Principles that Power Social Journalism". Storyful. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ^ Chozik, Amy (7 March 2014). "The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger: 'It's Essential to Be Paranoid'". New York Times Sunday Magazine. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ^ a b Ingram, Mathew (April 2014). "Social Journalism and Open Platforms Are the New Normal - Now We Have to Make Them Work". Giga Om. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ Wolff, Michael. "New cash, new questions for Business Insider". USA Today. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ^ Sussman, Ed (29 March 2014). "The New Rules of Social Journalism". Pando Daily. Retrieved 29 March 2014.