In Broadcast - August 2016 - 30


30

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 8 | August 2016

InForm

Crowdsourcing Changes News
There has been an incredible paradigm shift in the traditional newsroom that
dramatically transformed the way media companies run the business,
writes Marcello Dellepiane, President & CEO, MediaPower.

T

he typical work day of the
journalist is no exception - from
monitoring TV channels, radio stations,
and press releases, someone else's
Facebook or Twitter feed is now part
of a journalist's daily reading appetite.
Faster Internet speeds, computers,
smartphones,
and
new
media
have levelled the playing field for
broadcasters everywhere, hence the
rise of citizen journalism, and its much
derided counterpart, "churnalism" or a
form of news rewriting or aggregation.
Depending on which side you're on, this
could either be proverbial good news,
or bad news to you.
This article takes a look at how
reporters gather news, and how the
entry of crowdsourcing technologies
into the equation has helped ease the
process. It also examines the potential
of new media in paving the way for
personal journalism.
The value of local presence in
news acquisition: Local, first-hand
news acquisition opens up our eyes to
unique perspectives that are worthy
of our attention and scrutiny. When
news is sourced locally, the potential
to uncover more information that
would add value to your audiences is
better. Sourcing and producing news
locally also allows for the exploration
of varied insights or sentiments.
After all, local perspectives and great
storytelling are the currencies of
engaging news reports and editorials.
Challenges
in
local
news
acquisition: Technology has evolved
in such a way that the transfer of
data occurs in an instant, blurring
borders and geographical limitations.
It has allowed the means to share
news with a few swipes or clicks in
real-time, as events unfold. But even
with technologies that allow for realtime coverage, broadcasters and news
agencies were still not immune to the
challenges of local news acquisition.
It is simply physically impossible
to have in-house reporters and
videographers in every possible
location at any time. Breaking news
is difficult to capture real-time if a
media outlet's own reporters are not
onsite. Typically, a news outlet would
send its own crew to where things are
happening, but this is only practical
in non-marginal situations or terribly

catastrophic events that require
immediate and ongoing coverage.
Even if a news outlet decides to
send its own crew to locations where
they have no local crew, there is also
the matter of cost and sustainability.
Reducing costs is part and parcel
of running today's media company,
and this is not necessarily because
of recessions. It's just how things are
now; you have to deliver more with
so much less, thanks to increased
competition in the space.
As much as news outlets dream of
being present everywhere to support
this demand, that is simply not a
possibility, at least not with their own
personnel.
Crowdsourcing through social
media: To get around some of the
local news acquisition challenges,
broadcasters and news agencies
employ different methods. For one,
they are more selective of situations
where they absolutely have to send
their own crew to where they have
none present. Some situations are
simply worth the cost, of course. When
it is not, they tap partnerships with
other news outlets or they hire or
build a trusted network of stringers.
They also purchase video footage from
videographers who are at the right
place at the right time.
However, even these methods
could in some situations be costly
and impractical. How else could
they possibly source news from a
local perspective? Crowdsourcing
technologies may provide the answer.
Crowdsourcing is nothing new,
but technology has enabled it to
grow by leaps and bounds. Through
crowdsourcing,
information
can
be gathered from people all over
with more ease. In fact,
crowdsourcing through social
media is already a viable
business model for some
industries. It is also already
helping shape the future of
journalism and media. Social
networks,
video
sharing
platforms, blogs, and similar
applications have already
become very big sources of
information and are now
a regular part of the news
gathering and distribution process.

They have become sources of local
real-time information. They allow
news outlets to get a local "pulse"
of certain events - from differing
views to varying sentiments. They
have absolutely affected audience
engagement.
Social media has become so big and
polarising such that news agencies
have to "bend or bust" or embrace it
one way or the other to grow their own
audience or worse, sustain their own
existence.
Personal journalists: On the
other side of the coin (i.e. those who
contribute their views, news, and
perspectives),
social
networking
and video sharing platforms have
enabled everyone to be a potential
journalist. Social networking and
blogging enable the sharing of
individual views or perspectives.
Video blogging has enabled otherwise
ordinary enthusiasts to produce some
of the best video stories that can
even compete with professionally
produced material. Ordinary people
became bloggers and bloggers became
journalists - some simply by accident,
and some out of a genuine interest to
become a journalist.
Most people are equipped with
mobile phones, often with highresolution cameras that can capture
images, record or stream videos
with resolutions beyond current TV
news broadcast requirements. Again,
technology has allowed these people
to become journalists and breaking
news reporters in their own right -
something that news agencies can also
tap as material sources that are more
readily usable.
Without the likes of Twitter,
Facebook, and YouTube, coverage of

recent attacks would certainly not be
covered as extensively.
Unlimited potential for the
newsroom: Technology has brought
about so much for the newsgathering
process. Crowdsourcing platforms
like social networks and media
sharing sites, in whatever extent, is
now a regular part of the newsroom
workflow. While technology has made
all these possible, it does not negate
the need for responsible journalism
and news outlets still have to enforce
a vetting process to ensure reliability
in their news and quality in their work.
Nonetheless, the possibilities are
endless - from being able to sift
through a huge amount of information,
images, and video footage, to
monitoring trends and interest lists,
to getting first dibs on breaking news,
vetting stories and verifying materials,
and ensuring it is reported in the most
engaging or dynamic way possible.
The same can be said for being able to
identify good and reliable "personal"
journalists over long term, or to using
social networks as research platforms
for investigative journalism.
There is no doubt that technology
will
continue
to
evolve
the
newsgathering
and
production
process. But even with the current
applications and platforms available
now, there is tremendous potential to
enable newsrooms to improve the way
they obtain news from local sources
and present these to their audiences.
Broadcasters and news agencies
should tap into this potential and
streamline their workflows to make
it work for them - to gather quality
news from local perspectives, to add
multiple dimensions in the way they
present stories, all while ensuring they
produce compelling and relatable
news that engage their respective
audiences. It could help them
gather news at lower costs, and
could offer better sustainability
in the long term. Likewise, media
solutions providers should look
into helping media outlets further
improve their capabilities in their
news gathering and filtering
process, either with the slew of
currently available technologies
MediaPower Arkki or developing new ones based on
video editing crowdsourcing concepts.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.media-power.it/site/en/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - August 2016
