 - Chapter 2 - Interact With Your ReadersSince the dawn of modern newspapers, the staple “Letters to the Editor” page has been the only means of transparent interaction between the newsroom and its public. Today, with online news, all this has changed. Readers once frustrated when their quips and qualms weren’t published in the limited space reserved for them are now frustrated if they can’t post their commentary immediately after reading an article. Interactive Web tools have shaken the foundations of a traditionally top-down industry, making it one where the audience has a voice. Newspapers should listen. The Washington Post’s troubles with reader interactivity and staff bloggers
Steve Outing spoke to the necessity of online comments for newspapers in Editor and Publisher. He said that although “public discussion is scary and can get messy,” barring it would only “demonstrate that your organization doesn’t understand the current media landscape.” The Washington Post has come to exemplify the current confusion over reader interactivity and the troubled interplay between journalists and bloggers.
One of the main challenges for citizen journalism is gaining a foothold in the trust of readers. With no clear-cut ethical or editorial guidelines, citizen journalism is usually taken with a healthy dose of cynicism. But with such cynicism, can the form evolve?
Bloggers cannot produce quality journalism
If there is to be such a thing as pro-am journalism (melding “professional” and “amateur” writers), will the “am” component prove an obstacle to reaching professional standards? That is to say, can pro-am journalism ever truly compete with the ingrained standards of traditional professional journalism? There are two sides to the argument: those that believe amateurs can be effective journalists and those that don’t.
Conclusion
Walking the ‘Middle Path’ of pro-am journalism
Enabled by the Internet, everyday citizens have more voice than ever before, a voice that will only grow louder with time. The major obstacle of the development of this newfound power is that those citizens, and most media professionals, are not sure of the most effective way of using it. New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen endeavors to find that way by combining now easily exploitable knowledge of citizens with the work of professional journalists, a pro-am approach Rosen likes to refer to as the “Middle Path”.
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