August 26, 2008
Sending citizen journalism to Coventry
Not feeling so enthusiastic about our brave new world of citizen journalism and "user-generated content" and "participatory journalism" and "democratic journalism" today.
The reason? This rather chilling article about the looming job cuts at the newspapers of Trinity Mirror Midlands in the UK.
Reporters, sorry, Multimedia Journalists (MMJs), are already struggling with bulging workloads. Their new role (should they get one) will include taking photographs, shooting video and writing directly to web pages... These new "multi-skilled" journalists spell job losses for 15 members of the papers-wide photographic team, as 39 roles turn into 24, with the shortfall of images being made up by reporters and hi-tech mobile phones......Four pages of "user-generated" content will be introduced in the Coventry Telegraph when the changes sweep in - an early indication of the surviving MMJs being replaced by Bob Jones of Hillfields et al.
Not so much a brave new world of journalism then, more a cut-price filler of space left by dead journalists. Something tells me those four pages of "user-generated" content are not going to be very near the front.
Posted by aheavens at August 26, 2008 2:36 PM