Changes to how communication flows

Top
Top -- Down
Down Communication:
Communication: Two-way
Two-way Communication:
Communication:
Voice
Voice ofof God
God Information
Information Community
Community
We write.
You read

Let’s all
just have a
conversation

Page  1
What is interactivity?

It’s
It’s Participatory…
Participatory…
Ordinary
Ordinary people
people can
can contribute
contribute toto
professionally
professionally edited
edited publications
publications to
to create
create
more
more journalism
journalism -- but
but established
established news
news
organisations
organisations control
control the
the channels
channels -- top
top
down
down control
control (Blood
(Blood 2006)
2006)

It’s
It’s Collaborative…
Collaborative…
News
News reporting
reporting enabled
enabled by
by the
the Internet,
Internet,
done
done by
by aa dispersed
dispersed group
group of
of people
people -- the
the
channels
channels are
are not
not controlled
controlled (Blood
(Blood 2006)
2006)

“The
“The online
online audience
audience has has the
the means
means toto become
become an
an active
active
participant
participant in
in the
the creation
creation and
and dissemination
dissemination of
of news
news and
and
information”
information” (Bowman,
(Bowman, Willis,
Willis, 2003)
2003)
Page  2
Some examples… Comments on stories..

Polls…

Blogs
Have your say

Page  3
I’ve got power… We’re the people formerly
known
as “the audience”

User
User generated
generated content
content has
has shifted
shifted the
the relationship
relationship between
between
mainstream
mainstream media
media and
and the
the people
people formerly
formerly known
known as as “the
“the
audience”
audience” (Gilmoor,
(Gilmoor, 2004)
2004)

““ Interactivity
Interactivity and
and connectivity
connectivity changes
changes the
the media’s
media’s monopoly
monopoly on
on
content
content and
and its
its role
role in
in the
the community”
community” (Deuze,
(Deuze, 2003)
2003)

““ Audiences
Audiences are are no
no longer
longer empty
empty receptacles
receptacles waiting
waiting to
to
be
be filled
filled with
with information
information selected
selected by
by an
an editorial
editorial Editorial priestess:
priesthood”
priesthood” (Williams,
(Williams, 2007)
2007)
“Oh Sh1t!”

Page  4
News organisations are now expanding opportunities for user
generated content and interactivity with their audiences
(Hermida,Thurman,2007)
But what interactive ‘tools’ are we using?

 Polls
Polls
 Message
Message Boards
Boards
 ‘Have
‘Have your
your says’
says’
The Guardian

 Comments
Comments
 ‘Q&A’s’
‘Q&A’s’
 Blogs
Blogs
The Sun

 ‘Your
‘Your Media’
Media’
 ‘Your
‘Your Stories’
Stories’

The Mirror

Page  5
 An ‘upsurge’ in Interactivity
(Hermida & Thurman,2007) (Chung,2007)

Interactive
Interactive platforms
platforms increased
increased Why
Why had
had the
the boom
boom occurred
occurred
heavily
heavily between
between 2005-2007
2005-2007 around
around this
this time?
time?

 Initial
Initial Fears
Fears of of adopting
adopting Interactive
Interactive  The
The rush
rush to
to Catch
Catch Up Up
formats
formats  ‘Latecomers
‘Latecomers toto the
the party’
party’
 Journalists
Journalists marginalised?
marginalised?  Audiences
Audiences shifting
shifting from
from passive
passive spectators
spectators to
to
 No
No longer
longer having
having aa monopoly
monopoly of
of information
information active contributors
active contributors
(Little,2009)
(Little,2009)  How
How toto make
make papers
papers interactive?
interactive?
 No
No limit
limit to
to amount
amount ofof UGC
UGC

 ‘Participatory’
‘Participatory’and
and ‘Citizen’
‘Citizen’Journalism
Journalism
 London
London
Bombings
Bombings  Complementary
Complementary to to professional
professional journalism
journalism
 July
July 77 2005
th
2005
th rather
rather than
than trying
trying to
to replace
replace itit

Page  6
 Interactivity in an Irish Context (2010)

The Broadsheets:

Irish
Irish Times
Times Irish
Irish Independent
Independent

• Have your say -journalist written but • 3 Blogs-all by journalists

comments invited.
• Letters section- readers letters but
• Blogs 13 -all journalist bloggers but cannot leave comments online
readers can leave comments.
• Business section- interactive
• Editorial Comment- Interestingly, business blog by business
readers cannot leave comments. professionals. Links to O2 website
where comments can be left.
• Your Vote -Online poll Commercial interactivity?

Page  7
 The Red Tops:

The
The Mirror
Mirror (UK
(UK
The
The Sun
Sun (UK
(UK website)
website) The
The Irish
Irish Daily
Daily Star
Star
website)
website)

•• ‘Virals
‘Virals Vault’
Vault’ =’Your
=’Your media’
media’ •• Blogs-
Blogs- over
over 5050 by
by •• Pick
Pick your
your fantasy
fantasy GAA
GAAteam
team
journalists/professionals
journalists/professionals but
but not
not News
News
•• News
News discussion:
discussion: Ban
Ban dogs
dogs •• (Blogger
(Blogger competition-not
competition-not
in
in homes
homes with
with Children?
Children? giving
giving aa platform
platform toto anyone)
anyone)

•• ‘Have
‘Have your
your says’
says’ && Featured
Featured •• ‘Your
‘Your Story’-
Story’- (I(I was
was aa BNP
BNP
blogs
blogs by people such as
by people such as bigot until I fell for my
bigot until I fell for my
BertyBoob1
BertyBoob1 Jamaican
Jamaican colleague)
colleague)

•• Links
Links to
to mysun.co.uk
mysun.co.uk •• ‘Dear
‘Dear Miriam’
Miriam’Advice
Advice Q&As
Q&As
http://www.mysun.co.uk
http://www.mysun.co.uk where readers can post
where readers can post
(2006)
(2006) dilemmas
dilemmas and
and get
get advice
advice
from Dr Miriam Stoppard.
from Dr Miriam Stoppard.

Page  8
 Broadcast News

Newstalk.ie
Newstalk.ie

•• Comments
Comments on on stories/pictures/featured
stories/pictures/featured items
items
•• Links
Links to
to social
social networking
networking sites
sites twitter/facebook/linkedin
twitter/facebook/linkedin

RTÉ.ie
RTÉ.ie

•• Little
Little interactivity
interactivity
•• Have
Have embraced
embraced audio
audio and
and visuals,
visuals, but
but no
no user
user generated
generated
content
content

Page  9
 Are Irish media organisations lagging behind?

•• Why
Why have
have some
some Irish
Irish
newspapers/broadcasters
newspapers/broadcasters been been reluctant
reluctant to
to
adopt
adopt more
more platforms
platforms for
for interactivity?
interactivity?

•• What
What are
are the
the problems/issues
problems/issues that
that news
news
editors
editors are
are confronted
confronted with
with when
when providing
providing
oppertunities
oppertunities for
for user
user generated
generated content?
content?

Page  10
Reactions are Split Academic researchers are
‘obsessed with new media’,
while journalists are having
‘a collective nervous breakdown.’
Clare Fox,
Director of Institute of Ideas

“Most
“Most Conversational
Conversational Media”
Media”
 “It
“It is
is the
the most
most conversational
conversational media
media the
the world
world has
has yet
yet
invented.
invented. You You can
can have
have conversations
conversations overover time
time and
and space
space
in
in aa way
way you
you simply
simply can’t
can’t with
with television
television –– and
and global
global
conversations.’
conversations.’ ..Tom
..Tom Loosemore
Loosemore (Offcom,
(Offcom, andand leading
leading
Internet
Internet thinker)
thinker)
VS

“Digital Narcisim”

 the
the challenge
challenge forfor for
for professional
professional newspeople
newspeople isis to
to learn
learn to
to
emancipate
emancipate yourselves
yourselves fromfrom the
the mass
mass humility
humility and
and ‘noble
‘noble
amateurism
amateurism’”,’”,
 Superficial
Superficial observations
observations vs vs deep
deep analysis
analysis
 Shrill
Shrill opinions
opinions vs
vs considered
considered judgement
judgement
Page  11 Andrew
Andrew Keen,
Keen, former
former dot
dot com
com guru
guru
Opportunities...measurability...and feedback

 CLICKS give a good indication of viewer interest

 “What we broadcast is always subjective and informed by what we think the audience
is interested in...I guess it just gives us a better idea of what they actually are
interested in if we can hear from them not day by day, but minute by minute”....Ben
Brown...former BBC News Correspondent .(Fenton, Chapter4)

 Worth of Participatory Journalism to the individual

 “traditional media tend to understate the value of participatory journalism, holding
that comments, reviews and content created by amateurs provide little to their mass
audience. As such they are missing the inherent psychological value of the creative
process to the individual.. Bowman and Willis (2003)
- -way of ‘knitting the audience back into your brand’, Withey (2006) commenting on The
Guardian blogs.
- -participation may be low (1-5% of readers contribute to Guardian blogs, but this can
create a vibrant community which is of value to advertisers and others

Page  12
Concerns – over hyped – dumbing down – impossible to
manage

 Interactivity more of a buzzword than a revolution

 “The BBC makes much of the invitation to people to have their say and
send in their shots, but there is little evidence of a transformed agenda. The
whole BBV news invitation to the audience is disingenuous, invented to
look as if the licence payer has a say – they don’t”.
 ..Former BBC Producer Kevin Sutcliffe, now deputy Head of News
and Current Affairs at Channel 4 (Fenton, 2009, Chap 4)

 Extension of Democracy at expense of atomization of voices and

destruction of investigative skills?
 “There is a thing about interactivity; it actually means that you run an open
sewer system. The readers, your audience, those who use your site are
using it to throw all their garbage through your lines 24/7”
Fritz van Exter, Trouw Newspaper
Page  13
Challenges

 Verification vs Speed of publishing user comments

Pressure for sites to show high traffic vs upkeep of journalistic standards
 Interactivity must be profound....not shallow
 --clear strategy of why you are online? What your differences are online? What makes
you unique?

 Solutions
REGISTRATION
 cannot control it so use tools available to manage the battle
MODERATION
 -think about long term strategy here
 COMMUNICATION
 CLEAR ETHICS
- Publish them for debate.
 DELEGATION
- Audience can help to police the site to keep up the standards

Page  14
 Q.
Q. What
What are
are our
our habits?
habits?
What you said…  Everyone
Everyone of of us
us said
said we
we access
access aa news
news media
media website
website daily
daily to
to
get
get news,
news, and
and wewe do
do so
so using
using aa laptop
laptop
 25%
25% ofof us
us also
also aa mobile
mobile phone
phone oror iPhone
iPhone toto access
access news
news sites
sites
-- so
so we
we are
are on
on the
the go
go
 90%
90% ofof us
us have
have used
used interactivity
interactivity on
on aa news
news site
site e.g.
e.g. poll,
poll, post
post
etc
etc

Q.
Q. IsIs interactivity
interactivity useful?
useful?
 “I“I use
use them
them forfor entertainment
entertainment value..Ivalue..I read
read the
the highest
highest rated
rated comments
comments for for aa giggle,
giggle, and
and the
the
lowest
lowest rated
rated toto see
see what
what typetype ofof abusive
abusive idiots
idiots are
are out
out there”
there”
 “Yes,
“Yes, it's
it's aa great
great idea.
idea. ItIt keeps
keeps the the reader
reader interested,
interested, and and he/she
he/she gets
gets more
more outout of
of the
the site
site --
they'll
they'll be
be drawn
drawn to to the
the news
news source
source again
again ifif their
their attention
attention isis kept
kept for
for longer”
longer”
 “Makes
“Makes itit more
more fun.
fun. You
You feelfeel like
like are
are are
are contributing
contributing in in some
some way,
way, maybe
maybe adding
adding
something
something to to the
the story.
story. You
You get
get toto see
see what
what other
other people
people have
have to
to say,
say, not
not just
just the
the journalist”
journalist”

Q.
Q. Can
Can editors
editors ignore
ignore interactivity?
interactivity? 90% 90% ofof you
you said
said “No”
“No”
“People
“People will
will interact
interact with
with the
the content
content (re-tweeting,
(re-tweeting, forwarding
forwarding etc) etc) regardless
regardless ofof whether
whether you
you
give
give them
them the the ability
ability to
to do
do so
so on
on the
the site.
site. The
The question
question is
is whether
whether online
online journalism
journalism should
should be be
aa presentation
presentation of of the
the facts
facts and/or
and/or aa discussion
discussion ofof them.
them. IfIf journalism
journalism isis the
the guardian
guardian of
of the
the
democratic
democratic functions
functions of of the
the state
state then
then surely
surely providing
providing and
and encouraging
encouraging aa discussion
discussion is
is not
not
only
only useful
useful butbut necessary”
necessary”
Page  15