Journalism in the Wake of Participatory Publishing

Nguyen, An (2006) Journalism in the Wake of Participatory Publishing.

Document type: Preprint
Collection: School of Social Science Publications
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Title Journalism in the Wake of Participatory Publishing
Abstract/Summary Enabled by the increasing popularity of web-based easy-publishing technologies, the vibrant rise of participatory publishing - which could be ideally understood as "the act of a citizen, or a group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information" in order to "provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires" (Bowman & Willis, 2003, p9)1 - in the past five or six years has such a significant journalistic implication that many critics have even declared it to be the future of journalism. However, and rather surprisingly, this issue has not stirred up much debate among Australian journalism educators. Combining original data from a national survey of Australian news uses with previous research, this paper is a preliminary attempt to explore the current development of participatory publishing and its potential relationship with professional journalism. Starting from a review of the explosion and potential power of online participation in and outside Australia, the paper then places traditional journalism in the centre of the fledgling online public sphere to argue that participatory publishing provides a golden opportunity for traditional journalism to rethink and react in the way it is meant to be. In order to survive well with the ideal of public service, however, journalism must change from a lecture to a conversation, listening and talking to the public rather than remaining a closed stubborn profession that has long been a potential detriment to a healthy public sphere.
Keyword(s) participatory journalism
participatory publishing
weblogs
blogging
online participation
public engagement
online journalism
online communities
public sphere
Internet use
Internet impact
Date 2006-01-01
Subjects 400104 Communication and Media Studies
370107 Social Change
400101 Journalism
370101 Social Theory
360104 Political Theory and Political Philosophy
370104 Urban Sociology and Community Studies
400100 Journalism, Communication and Media
Author(s) Nguyen, An
Additional Notes A shorter version of this paper has been published in Australian Journalism Review, 28(1), pp. 47-59.
 
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Created: Mon, 31 Jul 2006, 10:00:00 EST by A. D. Nguyen on behalf of Library Corporate Services  -  Detailed History