An independent survey of various citizen media sites has revealed insightful information on what motivates writers to jump into citizen journalism. Among the findings, DigitalJournal.com writers post more often compared to the other surveyed news outlets.
Citizen journalists enjoy writing for alternative media, they are determined to write about news that matters to them, and there’s something special about everyday people finding a voice. These are among the findings from a global survey conducted by Martha Jack who is conducting her Master’s degree in digital media at London Metropolitan University.
DigitalJournal.com members might remember Jack when she asked users to answer a short survey in May 2009.
She released her results from the survey with DigitalJournal.com and two other citizen media outlets, GroundReport.com in New York and Australia-based Streetcorner.com.au.
This research will form the meat of Jack’s thesis for an MA in digital media at London Metropolitan University. A version of the report will appear in the Canadian Journal of Communications.
Before we reveal what Jack found out about Digital Journalists, we asked her a few questions about her impressions of citizen media and how her perspective on this media trend changed during her research.
DigitalJournal.com: What attracted you to surveying citizen media companies? What do you find interesting about this field?
Martha Jack: Even prior to beginning my degree, I have always been interested in forms of participatory journalism. My undergraduate degree is in journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, with a specialization in online journalism, and I have always been intrigued how interaction with the audience can be increased.
Professional journalists strive to become an “expert” on the subject of each story they write, while members of the audience may actually be an expert on the subject, either professionally or through first-hand experience of the event. The audiences’ knowledge and experiences needs to be utilized through the production of citizen journalism. I don’t think professional journalists need to be threatened by citizen journalists, but instead need to find ways to work with them and to create a media environment that is more dialogic.
DigitalJournal.com: After you collected data from all three companies, what answers surprised you the most? What answers jumped out at you?
Martha Jack: What really jumped out at me is that citizen journalists are generally older than I expected. The majority of respondents to my survey fell in the 45 to 55 age category. Since the current incarnation of citizen journalism is relatively new, I had expected them to be digital natives born post-1980, but instead, they are digital immigrants, who have adapted to and learned how to navigate online and use the technology.
As well, I was surprised by how often citizen journalists post content; 37.3 per cent of respondents from DigitalJournal.com post content on a daily basis. When you consider the time commitment necessary to research, produce, edit and post content, I find the frequency of posting extraordinary. In addition to this, 75.9 per cent of respondents visit DigitalJournal.com on a daily or more than daily basis. Such a high level of engagement is important for creating an active online community.
DigitalJournal.com: How do you think DigitalJournal.com compares to the other outlets?
Martha Jack: My data indicated DigitalJournal.com contributors felt more comfortable with their multimedia-related journalism skills, including editing digital video, using a digital still camera, editing photos and using an audio recorder. Also, they noted feeling more comfortable doing journalism fundamentals such as conducting an interview and editing text than my other respondents. Most importantly though, through their comments and how they rated their motivations for producing content, it is clear that citizen journalists from DigitalJournal.com are passionate about the work they produce.
DigitalJournal.com: What are your thoughts on citizen media complementing mainstream news in today’s news climate? Is it viable?
Martha Jack: My thought, and the recommendation of my paper, is that the two tiers of media need to work together to showcase the greatest number of voices and perspectives. Audiences are seeking to have their voices heard and to be involved in production, but, as readers, they are still skeptical about the quality of the citizen journalism content.
By having citizen journalism content filter through typical editorial processes, such as copy-editing and fact checking done by journalism professionals, readers can be reassured that the content as being held to the same standard as anything in the mainstream media. Essentially, I think that the two tiers need each other.
Martha Jack provided DigitalJournal.com with detailed analysis of the survey. Here are a few samples of what she found out about this citizen media community:
• 44 per cent of respondents joined DigitalJournal.com more than a year ago. Around 39 per cent joined in the past six months
• Politics and World were the most popular sections when it came to contributions. Just over 50 per cent of DIgital Journalists said they post often to those sections. Also popular were Crime (25.4 per cent), Environment (25.4 per cent) and Technology (22 per cent)
• Half of the respondents said they posted content to DigitalJournal.com several times a day. More than 25 per cent posted daily and 17.2 per cent posted weekly.
• Writers on DigitalJournal.com are Internet junkies. A total of 59 per cent of the surveyed individuals said they are connected to the Net six-plus hours a day. A quarter are online three to six hours daily.
• When asked why they produce content for DigitalJournal.com, the most popular reply in the “very important” category was “I enjoy writing and producing content.” Other popular responses include “To create and share knowledge with others”, “to inform others about current events” and “to exercise my right of freedom of expression.”
• DigitalJournal.com users visit many news sources. But the most popular outlets included national news sites (69.2 per cent response rate), alternative news sites (57.7 per cent), and national newspapers (51.9 per cent). The least popular? Local radio with 21.2 per cent.
• You can’t call Digital Journalists technophobes. More than three-quarters of those surveyed feel competent conducting interviews and copy editing text. Around 70 per cent are comfortable using digital still cameras. And around two-thirds of respondents are fine with simple photo editing.
• When Jack asked the respondents what made DigitalJournal.com different from content produced in newspapers, she received a wide array of replies. Among them: “It’s far more engaging and content is often posted before mainstream media gets around to covering a topic”; “It is from a perspective of the person on the ground, from a citizen in South Africa or Gaza or small-town America. It’s not a beat reporter sent out on assignment”; “feels more like you are interacting with the news community instead of being lectured to by the news media.”
And our personal favourite — “it’s free!”
