Participatory journalism is not for nerds

A new way of communicating is changing the paradigms of the news’ spreading structure.  The emergence of weblogs and news platforms on the Internet have given an enormous power to a passive audience and  have diminished the role of the  mainstream media’s gatekeepers. Even though mainstream media is also informing on the net, participatory journalism has come up as a new way of sharing new perspectives on current issues and any other topics.

Users are not only feeding on the Internet content apart from the mainstream media one. They go a step further, they are also creating it.  The passive audience has become a proconsumer one. They consume and create news, and blogs are major tools used by proconsumers. In the one hand, users are able to create and publish content. In the other hand, they are also able to get feedback and talk with the audience. This way all parts benefit. Users can talk about the content they are consuming and creators can learn from their readers. Thus, global knowledge grows. The silver lining in this is that the same person can be simultaneously a consumer and a creator. On the Internet people are free to develop the role they want to. Everyone is free to publish and comment.

Thanks to these methods a new trend of sharing news have come up called participatory journalism. Participatory journalism is about citizens playing an active role in news' making, acting as professional reporters many times: collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.

This has led to a democratization of the information.  Blogs tackle many different issues with a different perspective introduced by new voices which people are seeking for. Besides, they aim to provide independent, reliable, wide ranging and relevant information basic for a better functioning of democracy.  A well informed citizen will be able to understand more clearly the issues of social interest affecting him. Thereby, he will have the tools and knowledge to contribute to the better development of society. Democracy is about giving voice to citizens, and that’s what the Internet is exactly doing. Participatory journalism is a remainder of the coffeehouses where gentlemen used to discuss current issues affecting society four hundred years ago.

Institutional press and mainstream media are being challenged by the Internet content creators. Professional journalists have failed to own the exclusive privilege of trusted information intermediary. Even though they are still quite relevant sources of information, they are developing a new role on the net. They act as forum leaders or mediators, which are not always necessary. Also, the commercial focused media that skip information which doesn’t benefit their sponsors or advertisers has lost power.  Gatekeepers don’t set the agenda anymore. Mainstream media filters and then publishes. The internet has inverted the rule. Users publish and then it is filtered because users decide which is the meaningful and accurate information, omitting the irrelevant one by not accessing the content. 

However, participatory journalism must be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat.  Media cannot always employ as many journalist and photographers as they would like in order to cover a specific event. Taking advantage of participatory journalism, information, statements and photos  can be taken from people who are on scene. Participatory journalism can be rather useful in wars or catastrophes, for instance.

Internet is introducing a new way of learning and communicating based on conversation, egalitarism and collaboration over profitability. What is more, people are motivated to create and share content in an attempt to satisfy their needs of self-fulfillment and to obtain reputation on the web. It is a chance for users to develop new skills and to feel they are contributing to the democratization of information sharing. The audience isn't a nerd anymore.  Why not joining the adventure?

Based on We media, how the audiences are shaping the future of news and information by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis

This essay was originally handled to Borja Ventura as a University proyect.