!

!




!
"##$
Cardlff School of !ournallsm, Medla and CulLural SLudles
8uLe 8ulldlng, klnd Ldward vll Avenue, Cardlff, Cl10 3n8
16/9/2008
88C ro[ect artners: Llz Powell and 8obln Pamman
kesearch 1eam: rofessor !usLln Lewls, ur karln Wahl-
!orgensen, ur 1ammy 8oyce and ur Poward 8arrell
ur Clalre Wardle and ur Andrew Wllllams
ugc[Lhebbc

undersLandlng lLs lmpacL upon
conLrlbuLors, non-conLrlbuLors and 88C
news

loreword
lL mlghL be 1wlLLer 'LweeLs' durlng Lhe LerrorlsL aLLack ln Mumbal, moblle phone plcLures from Lhe 8urma uprlslng
or vldeo, sLllls and eye-wlLness accounLs of Lhe floods ln Lngland, Lhe advenL of dlglLal Lechnology has opened up a
new era of lnLeracLlvlLy beLween Lhe 88C and lLs audlences. 1hls new conLenL ls varlously descrlbed as clLlzen
[ournallsm, user generaLed conLenL, soclal medla buL whaLever we call lL, lL ls an lnLegral parL of Lhe vlslon for 88C
!ournallsm ln Lhe dlglLal world. So Lhls lndependenL research by Cardlff unlverslLy ls a Llmely conLrlbuLlon Lo our
Lhlnklng. lL brlngs LogeLher Lhe experlence of 88C pracLlLloners, exhausLlve conLenL analysls and Lhree separaLe
audlence sLudles ln a comprehenslve revlew of user generaLed conLenL ln news. 1he research offers valuable
lnslghLs and ldeas and challenges us Lo Lhlnk harder abouL how we lnLeracL wlLh Lhe audlence and how we weave
Lhelr sLorles, Lhelr lnslghLs and Lhelr commenLs lnLo our !ournallsm. lL relnforces whaL we know abouL Lhe gap
beLween passlve consumers of uCC and acLlve parLlclpanLs and ln parLlcular lL challenges us Lo broaden Lhe range
of conLrlbuLors. 1he reporL was made posslble by a parLnershlp beLween Lhe 88C's luLure Medla and 1echnology
dlvlslon and Lhe ArLs and PumanlLles 8esearch Councll and we very much hope LhaL lLs publlcaLlon wlll spread Lhe
learnlngs and allow oLhers Lo beneflL from lLs flndlngs.

uanlel uodd, Pead of lnLeracLlve, 88C naLlons and 8eglons












1hls collaboraLlve research pro[ecL was funded Lhrough Lhe AP8C/88C knowledge Lxchange rogramme's plloL
fundlng call. 1he alm of Lhe ArLs and PumanlLles 8esearch Councll/88C kL ls Lo develop a long-Lerm sLraLeglc
parLnershlp brlnglng LogeLher Lhe arLs and humanlLles research communlLy wlLh 88C sLaff Lo enable co-funded
knowledge exchange and collaboraLlve research and developmenL. 1he beneflLs from Lhe ouLcomes and ouLpuLs of
Lhese pro[ecLs should be of equal slgnlflcance Lo boLh parLners. 1o flnd ouL more abouL Lhe AP8C/88C kL please
vlslL Lhe AP8C's webslLe aL:
hLLp://www.ahrc.ac.uk/lundlngCpporLunlLles/ages/knowledgeLxchangerogramme.aspx
Clalre Wardle

Andy Wllllams

Llz Powell











ConLenLs


LxecuLlve Summary 1

lnLroducLlon 2

MeLhodology 3

Peadllnes 8

ConLexLuallslng Lhe Peadllnes 9

Concluslons 41

8ecommendaLlons 43

key llndlngs
lpsos MC8l survey 46
88C Cnllne Survey 49
locus Croups 32
newsroom CbservaLlons 34
ConLenL Analysls 33


















LxecuLlve Summary

1hls reporL ls Lhe culmlnaLlon of 12 monLhs of
collaboraLlve research beLween a Leam of Cardlff
unlverslLy researchers and Lhe 88C. lL ls Lhe mosL
comprehenslve research Lo be compleLed on Lhe
sub[ecL of user CeneraLed ConLenL (uCC) ln news.

1hls groundbreaklng pro[ecL lnvolved 6 dlfferenL
meLhodologles:


! newsroom observaLlons ln 9 dlfferenL
newsrooms across Lhe 88C

! 113 lnLervlews wlLh 88C [ournallsLs
and 10 lnLervlews wlLh senlor
managers and 88C execuLlves

! an analysls of 103 hours of news
ouLpuL from 13 naLlonal and reglonal
1v and radlo programmes (and Lhelr
assoclaLed webslLes)

! a naLlonally represenLaLlve MC8l
survey of 944 people

! an onllne survey of 693 88C
conLrlbuLors

! 12 focus groups wlLh 100 people.











1he research was made posslble because of
unprecedenLed access aL all levels of Lhe 88C, and
across geographlcal reglons. 8esearch was underLaken
aL 88C neLwork news, 88C World Servlce, 88C uevon,
88C Wales, 88C Sheffleld and 88C Leeds.

1he daLa provldes a comprehenslve plcLure of Lhe way
'uCC' ls used wlLhln Lhe 88C, how 'uCC' ls percelved by
[ournallsLs and senlor managers, of Lhe moLlvaLlons of
conLrlbuLors, Lhe dlslncenLlves for Lhose who don'L
conLrlbuLe, and Lhe aLLlLudes of Lhe general audlence Lo
Lhe lncreased use of uCC ln news wlLhln Lhe
organlsaLlon.

1he pro[ecL was co-funded by Lhe ArLs and PumanlLles
8esearch Councll and Lhe 88C, as parL of a knowledge
Lxchange rogramme. 1he research sLarLed on 1 AugusL
2007 and was compleLed on

31sL !uly 2008. 1he
research Leam was led by ur Clalre Wardle and Lhe
8esearch AssoclaLe was ur Andrew Wllllams. 1he Leam
also comprlsed ur Poward 8arrell, ur 1ammy 8oyce,
rofessor !usLln Lewls, and ur karln Wahl-!orgensen.
1here were Lhree ad-hoc 8esearch AsslsLanLs: Wllllam
1aylor and Cdy ConsLanLlnou and Llezel Longboan.
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!"#$%&'((#)
*)
!




Introduct|on
!
Medla organlsaLlons, so Lhe convenLlonal sLory goes,
have noL faclllLaLed a Lwo-way conversaLlon beLween
news producers and audlences. More recenLly lL has
become commonplace Lo polnL ouL LhaL new
Lechnologles enabllng more collaboraLlve forms of
[ournallsm have forced us Lo reconslder Lhe LradlLlonal
model of mass communlcaLlon. 1hls 'clLlzen' or
'neLworked' [ournallsm lncreaslngly Lakes place ouLslde
of LradlLlonal medla, and allows people Lo gaLher,
process, and publlsh conLenL lndependenLly of ma[or
news organlsaLlon. lL ls hoped by many LhaL Lhls
democraLlc lnLeresL ln produclng news, and Lhe
lncreaslngly easy access Lo Lechnologlcal modes of
producLlon and dlssemlnaLlon, wlll slow or halL Lhe
general decllne ln clvlc parLlclpaLlon and publlc lnLeresL
ln pollLlcs LhaL has been wlLnessed ln recenL years.

rompLed largely by developmenLs LhaL Look place
ouLslde of Lhe LradlLlonal medla, large medla
organlsaLlons were forced Lo reacL Lo Lhese new Lrends,
and have embraced Lhe new emphasls on
clLlzen/audlence engagemenL ln dlfferenL ways.

1he 88C has been lnvesLlng ln onllne [ournallsm slnce
Lhe early 1990s, allowlng lL Lo produce one of Lhe
world's mosL vlslLed webslLes, and provldlng a plaLform
for readers Lo commenL on publlshed sLorles. Slnce
2001 Lhe 88C's dlglLal sLoryLelllng pro[ecLs have been
Lralnlng hundreds of people across Lhe counLry Lo shooL
and edlL Lhelr own mulLlmedla packages for broadcasL
over a range of 88C ouLpuL. 8unnlng slnce 2003 Lhe
flagshlp lsland 8logglng programme ln ScoLland ls only
one of a sLeadlly growlng neLwork of blogs whlch allow
members of Lhe publlc Lo posL Lhelr own conLenL uslng
Lhe 88C webslLe. Less hlgh-proflle collaboraLlons
beLween Lhe audlence and 88C [ournallsLs ln Lhe form










of regular or one-off onllne web dlarles have been
hosLed on Lhe local neLwork of Where l Llve (now called
88C Local) slLes for a number of years
1
. ln addlLlon, ln
2003 Lhe 88C launched lCan (whlch would laLer become
Lhe 88C AcLlon neLwork) as a clvlc space onllne where lL
hoped people would share concerns, bulld communlLles
of lnLeresL, exchange lnformaLlon and advlce, and plan
and organlse campalgns (Lhe neLwork was wound down
ln early 2008, because Lhe 88C's lnvesLmenL was noL
seen Lo be approprlaLe Lo Lhe small numbers of people
uslng lL).

A susLalned lnLeresL ln audlence parLlclpaLlon ln Lhe
producLlon of news aL Lhe 88C has been more recenL,
and has been drlven forward by a number of hlgh-
proflle news evenLs. 1he new ?ork Lerror aLLacks ln
SepLember 2001 were clearly a very lmporLanL wake-up
call Lo medla organlsaLlons abouL Lhe poLenLlal of Lhe
general publlc Lo supply audlovlsual and eyewlLness
accounLs. 1hey were also lmporLanL ln alerLlng
[ournallsLs Lo Lhe power of alLernaLlve medla forms llke
blogs and bulleLln boards ln supplylng dlfferenL sources
of news on blg evenLs llke Lhls
2
. 8uL 9/11 was noL a
huge 'uCC' evenL for Lhe 88C speclflcally. lor example,
only Lwo eyewlLness e-malls senL ln by Lhe publlc Lo Lhe
88C from new ?ork generaLed llve lnLervlews on Lhe
news (WalLon 2007)
3
. A Lurnlng polnL aL Lhe 88C came
wlLh Lhe Aslan Lsunaml ln uecember 2004, and Lhe
London 8omblngs ln !uly 2003. 1hese evenLs really mark
Lhe beglnnlng of a perlod durlng whlch clLlzen or user
generaLed conLenL, ln Lhe words of SLuarL Allen 'wenL
malnsLream' aL Lhe 88C (see fooLnoLe 2). lor example,
8lchard Sambrook Lhe ulrecLor of Lhe 88C's Clobal
news dlvlslon, has sLaLed LhaL lL was an emall abouL Lhe
bomblngs senL ln by a vlewer whlch flrsL challenged Lhe
lnlLlal offlclal reporLs.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%
!1he Where l Llve slLes have been re-LlLled 88C Local and wlll
be referred Lo as such LhroughouL Lhls reporL.!
"
!Allen, SLuarL (2007) '1he CulLural ollLlcs of ClLlzen
!ournallsm', Cardlff unlverslLy CrlLlcal
1heory Semlnar, 24Lh CcLober.!
3
WalLon, Chrls (2007) 'Pave 1hey CoL news lor us?', 88C
College of !ournallsm uCC Lralnlng sesslon, 88C Wales, 11Lh
uecember
+)
!"#$%&'((#)









LhaL Lhe dlsLurbances had been caused by a power
surge on Lhe Lube.

WlLhln slx hours we recelved more Lhan 1,000
amaLeur phoLographs, 20 pleces of amaLeur
vldeo, 4,000 LexL messages, and 20,000 emalls.
eople were parLlclpaLlng ln our coverage ln a
way we had never seen before. 8y Lhe nexL day
our maln 1v newscasL began wlLh a package
edlLed enLlrely from vldeo senL ln by vlewers.
11


ln Lhe words of one [unlor broadcasL [ournallsL we
lnLervlewed, 'Lhls whole ldea of clLlzen [ournallsm - l
don'L Lhlnk lL's golng Lo Lake over Lhe world. 8uL lf you
have goL somebody Lhere Laklng plcLures seconds afLer
an evenL has happened lL's lncredlble. ?ou couldn'L geL
a camera crew Lhere. l Lhlnk lL's valld and l Lhlnk lL's very
lmporLanL'. 8efore 7/7 88C news lnLeracLlve ln London
goL around 300 e-malls on an average day. 1hls has now
rlsen Lo around 12,000, wlLh splkes around cerLaln
popular sLorles. 1he 88C recelved 23,000 e-malls [usL on
Lhe Sudan Leddy bear sLory ln uecember 2007. lrom a
very low base around 3 years ago, Lhey now geL around
1000 sLllls and vldeo cllps senL ln on a quleL week, and
durlng Lhe floods ln !une 2006 Lhey recelved around
7000 phoLos and vldeos ln flve days. 1hese are [usL
approxlmaLe flgures for Lhe lnformaLlon and raw
maLerlal flowlng lnLo Lhe 88C's growlng user CeneraLed
ConLenL Pub, and do noL counL Lhe volume of conLenL
senL dlrecLly Lo lndlvldual programmes, or Lo Lhe many
local and reglonal newsrooms across Lhe uk, whlch can
be conslderable, especlally durlng blg 'uCC sLorles'.

laced wlLh Lhls level of audlence parLlclpaLlon ln Lhe
coverage of such news sLorles lL ls no surprlse LhaL Lhe
88C has slnce declded Lo enLhuslasLlcally embrace
'uCC' ln a number of ways. AmongsL oLher Lhlngs: lL has
lnvesLed heavlly ln lLs 'uCC hub' (Lhe deparLmenL
responslble for Lhe flagshlp Pave ?our Say webslLe)
whlch only employed a handful of people ln 2003 buL
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11
Sambrook, 8lchard (2003) 'ClLlzen !ournallsm and Lhe 88C',
nleman 8eporLs, 39 (4): 13-16.









has slnce grown Lo 29, lL has promoLed a neLwork of
blogs relaLlng Lo news and currenL affalrs programmlng

Lo exLend Lhe conversaLlon off alr, and ln some cases
(such as Lhe newsnlghL and M blogs) Lo make Lhe
edlLorlal process lLself more collaboraLlve and
LransparenL, and lL has concenLraLed on Lralnlng,
puLLlng a 'uCC'-relaLed course called 'Pave 1hey CoL
news for us' aL Lhe hearL of Lhe new 88C College of
!ournallsm.

AfLer Lhls heady Llme of 'uCC'-relaLed expanslon Lhe
88C has now enLered a perlod of reflecLlon, and ls
pauslng Lo conslder Lhe besL ways forward. AL a Llme
when many uk medla organlsaLlons are sLlll rushlng Lo
embrace onllne parLlclpaLlon ln Lhe form of dlscusslon
and commenLs hosLed on Lhelr webslLes, senlor 88C
edlLors are beglnnlng Lo quesLlon how Lhe CorporaLlon
should be hosLlng Lhese conversaLlons:

eLer CllfLon (Pead of LdlLorlal uevelopmenL for
MulLlmedla): Cver Llme, we may wanL Lo devoLe
less Llme Lo encouraglng heaLed debaLe whlch ls
[usL hoL alr and acLually noL a huge amounL of
value and acLually focuslng more on Lhe real
added value lnslghL ln user CeneraLed ConLenL.

eLer 8lppon (LdlLor, 8adlo 4's M, lM, World aL
Cne, and 8roadcasLlng Pouse): l don'L Lhlnk Lhe
88C should be provldlng plaLforms for [usL nolse
whlch you can flnd anywhere on Lhe Web
anyway. And l Lhlnk we should be focuslng more
on Lhe klnd of user-generaLed sLuff LhaL's more
abouL publlc servlce and has more of a publlc
servlce elemenL.

eLer Porrocks (LdlLor, 88C newsroom): 1he
dllemma ls LhaL Lhe lnsaLlable resource
requlremenL around [usL deallng wlLh commenLs
doesn'L seem Lo me ls generaLlng enough, or wlll
noL ln Lhe fuLure, generaLe enough exLra value for
Lhe klnd of efforL LhaL we need Lo puL lnLo lL.

!"#$%&'((#)
,)
-)
!"#$%&'((#)

uralnlng as Lhey are on shrlnklng news budgeLs, lL ls
belng suggesLed by some LhaL hefLy moderaLlon cosLs
can be avolded by reduclng Lhe number of Lhese Lypes
of dlscusslon spaces, and llnklng Lo alLernaLlve spaces
for debaLe elsewhere on Lhe neL, whlle concenLraLlng
on Lhe provlslon of hlgh quallLy news conLenL. Some
suggesL LhaL Lhe efforL devoLed Lo malnLalnlng Lhe
conversaLlon beLween Lhe news organlsaLlon and lLs
audlence would be beLLer spenL encouraglng Lhose who
have wlLnessed a news evenL, or who have some
experlence or experL knowledge of lL, Lo conLacL Lhe
88C.

Such a move would be applauded by many [ournallsLs
wlLhln Lhe 88C, as well as by cerLaln secLlons of Lhe
88C's audlence. 1he use of eyewlLness audlence
conLenL, and lnformed oplnlon from amaLeurs, ls wldely
appreclaLed amongsL 88C [ournallsLs and audlence
members allke (wlLh some lmporLanL rlders and
caveaLs, of course). Powever, many belleve much of Lhe
audlence oplnlon abouL Lhe news LhaL geLs publlshed,
whaL we call Audlence CommenL, ls ofLen domlnaLed by
Lhe unlnformed and Lhose who hold exLreme (and
someLlmes dlsLasLeful) vlews, and Lherefore emphasls
should be placed on oLher Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal.

1here ls no slmple answer, however. Many supporLers
of Lhe 88C's Pave ?our Say forum, for example, suggesL
LhaL lf lL were noL for Lhese lmporLanL spaces for debaLe
many news sLorles and Lhe case sLudles and eyewlLness
accounLs whlch accompanled Lhem would never have
been found. !ournallsLs aL Lhe 'uCC' hub spend much of
Lhelr Llme Lrawllng Lhrough commenLs and pre-
moderaLlng debaLes, and lf Lhey dldn'L do Lhls many
valuable nuggeLs of useful lnformaLlon mlghL sllp
Lhrough Lhe neL, never Lo be dlscovered and
lnvesLlgaLed furLher by 88C news [ournallsLs.

Some belleve 'uCC' ls noLhlng new, oLhers belleve Lhe
Lechnologlcal developmenLs, lf correcLly Lapped,
provlde real opporLunlLles for re-connecLlng wlLh Lhe
audlence for news and currenL affalrs. WhaLever Lhe
oplnlon, Lhls research demonsLraLed LhaL everyone had
an oplnlon abouL user CeneraLed ConLenL aL Lhe 88C,










wheLher lL was a senlor execuLlve, newly quallfled
[ournallsL or a llcence fee payer.

As SLeve Perrmann (88C WebslLe edlLor) argued,

l Lhlnk we obvlously have Lo conLlnue Lo engage
wlLh [uCC]. lL's really a very lmporLanL area. We
cannoL lgnore lL. l Lhlnk we, as a publlc servlce
organlsaLlon, have Lo be even beLLer aL lL Lhan
oLherwlse. l Lhlnk lL's a cruclal weapon, as lL were,
ln our news gaLherlng arsenal, ln Lerms of belng a
successful news organlsaLlon. And l Lhlnk ln Lerms
of reflecLlng back Lo 8rlLaln and Lhe world, volces
and oplnlons and polnLs of vlew. lL's also
absoluLely cruclal LhaL we develop really
sophlsLlcaLed, smarL, engaglng ways of conLlnulng
Lo do lL. 8uL lL's golng Lo be one of Lhe blg
challenges we face. lL already ls and lL has been
for Lhe lasL couple of years.

1hls reporL feeds lnLo Lhe ongolng dlscusslons aL Lhe
88C, and wlll hopefully provlde lnslghLs boLh lnLo Lhe
ways ln whlch 'uCC' ls belng used aL Lhe 88C as well as
Lhe vlews of Lhe audlences (boLh Lhose who conLrlbuLe
and Lhose who do noL).






























MeLhodology

1hls pro[ecL conslsLed of 3 dlfferenL meLhodologles:
newsroom CbservaLlons, ConLenL Analysls, MC8l
Survey, Cnllne Survey of 88C conLrlbuLors, and locus
Croups.

newsroom observaLlons

A Leam of 3 researchers spenL a LoLal of 37 days ln 9
newsrooms. 1hose 37 days break down as follows.

8LClCnAL:
88C uevon ln lymouLh (10 days)
88C Sheffleld (10 days)
88C norLh ln Leeds (3 days)
88C Wales Cardlff (3 days)


nL1WC8k:
88C 'uCC' Pub (6 days)
88C 8reakfasL (1 day)
88C news (1 day)
World Servlce: newshour & World
Pave ?our Say (1 day)

1he researchers were followlng parLlclpanL observaLlon
Lechnlques, aLLempLlng Lo be as unobLruslve as posslble
ln order Lo observe and capLure Lhe ways ln whlch
'uCC' ls belng used by [ournallsLs, wlLhouL havlng Lo rely
solely on asklng [ournallsLs Lo explaln everyday acLlons
(many of whlch are so naLurallsed lL ls lmposslble Lo
consclously conslder all Lhe LhoughLs and acLlons
lnvolved). uurlng Lhe Llme ln Lhe newsrooms, Lhe
researchers underLook a number of seml-sLrucLured
lnLervlews wlLh [ournallsLs and edlLors ln order Lo gauge










aLLlLudes abouL 'uCC' wlLhln dlfferenL newsrooms, Lo
flnd ouL abouL examples of good pracLlce, and Lo learn
abouL obsLacles and challenges faced by [ournallsLs
uslng and sharlng 'uCC'. 1hese lnLervlewed LoLalled 113
durlng Lhe 37 days of observaLlons.

ConLenL Analysls

ConLenL Analysls ls a meLhodology whlch capLures large
amounLs of medla ouLpuL as a way Lo gauge underlylng
paLLerns. MuLually excluslve caLegorles are used Lo
'code' dlfferenL aspecLs of Lhe medla ouLpuL, ln Lhls
case
! Lhe number of requesLs for 'uCC'
! Lhe Lypes of requesLs
! Lhe Lypes of 'uCC' requesLed
! Lhe lengLh of Llme of each requesL sloL
! Lhe number of segmenLs ln whlch 'uCC' was
used
! Lhe number of lndlvldual conLrlbuLlons
broadcasL
! Lhe Lypes of conLrlbuLlons used
! Lhe lengLh of 'uCC' segmenLs

ueslgnlng Lhe sample for Lhe conLenL analysls was
parLlcularly dlfflculL because of Lhe sheer amounL of
88C ouLpuL. ln order Lo make Lhe conLenL analysls
manageable we chose 'flagshlp' news shows across all
channels, on neLwork 1v and radlo, as well as 88C
Wales. 1hese were:
! 88C 8reakfasL (88C 1)
! 6 o' clock news (88C 1)
! 10 o'clock news (88C 1)
! newsbeaL (8adlo 1)
! !eremy vlne (8adlo 2)
! 1oday (8adlo 4)
! M (8adlo 4)
! 8reakfasL (8adlo 3 Llve)
! urlve (8adlo 3 Llve)
! Welsh 8reakfasL half hourly cuLaways from 88C
8reakfasL (88C Wales)
! Wales 1oday (88C Wales)
! Cood Mornlng Wales (88C 8adlo Wales)
! Cood Lvenlng Wales (88C 8adlo Wales)

!"#$%&'((#)
.)

Agaln, Lo make Lhe sampllng manageable, we chose one
week ln lebruary (Monday 11-lrlday 13 2008).
12
All
maLerlal was recorded and Lhe daLa was analysed aL a
laLer daLe by a 8esearch AsslsLanL.
13
ln LoLal 103 hours
and 33 mlnuLes of broadcasL ouLpuL was analysed.

ln addlLlon, an analysls of 88C news (formerly news 24)
was also carrled ouL. 8ecause Lhe use of 'uCC' depends
so heavlly on parLlcular news sLorles (parLlcularly
breaklng news), we deslgned a 24 hour sample of news
over a 16 day perlod, recordlng 1.3 hours of
programmlng each day. So on uay 1 (21
sL
!anuary 2008)
Lhe perlod beLween mldnlghL and 1.30am was
recorded. Cn uay 2 (22
nd
!anuary 2008) Lhe perlod of
Llme 1.30am-3am was recorded. Weekends were noL
lncluded ln Lhe sample (See fooLnoLe 3 for explanaLlon).

1he webslLes for each of Lhese programmes, as well as
Lhe Pave ?our Say forum were also analysed uslng a
quallLaLlve Lechnlque (as quanLlLaLlve Lechnlques would
noL have ylelded parLlcularly lnLeresLlng daLa). A full
descrlpLlon of Lhe webslLes and Lhe dlfferenL ways Lhey
use uCC ls deLalled ln Lhe appendlx.

lpsos MC8l Survey

lpsos MC8l carrled ouL Lhe survey deslgned by Lhe
Cardlff research Leam beLween 29
Lh
november - 7
Lh

uecember 2007.
944 adulLs over 16 were lnLervlewed. 1he daLa was
welghLed Lo Lhe known 8rlLlsh populaLlon proflle, wlLh
184 sample polnLs across 8rlLaln. 1he lnLervlews were
conducLed uslng CompuLer AsslsLed ersonal
lnLervlewlng ln respondenLs' homes uslng Lhe lpsos
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
12
Whlle weekend sampllng would have been lnLeresLlng,
access Lo recordlng equlpmenL was noL posslble aL Lhe
weekends. Slmllarly 11 hours of poLenLlal broadcasL maLerlal
dld noL record successfully so could noL be lncluded ln Lhe
sample.!
13
8ecause all codlng relaLed Lo Lhe 'presence/absence' of
uCC lnLer-coder rellablllLy was noL necessary.!





MC8l Caplbus, whlch ls an omnlbus survey compleLed
every week wlLh a represenLaLlve group of Lhe 8rlLlsh
populaLlon, coverlng a number of dlfferenL Loplcs.
Cnllne Survey


1he Cnllne Survey was deslgned Lo capLure lnformaLlon
from Lhose people who conLrlbuLe maLerlal Lo Lhe 88C
webslLe. Whlle onllne surveys suffer from Lhe lssue of
self-selecLlon Lhe posslble dlsadvanLages of uslng an
onllne survey were ouLwelghed by Lhe access lL
provlded Lo Lhose who do conLrlbuLe maLerlal Lo Lhe
88C (a hard group Lo reach by any oLher means.)

ln LoLal 693 people conLrlbuLed Lo Lhe onllne survey.
1he survey was llnked Lo from Lhe 88C webslLe, and as
parL of an auLomaLlc reply on Lhe yourplcs[bbc.co.uk
emall address for almosL 3 monLhs (1
sL
March unLll 20
Lh

May 2008). 1here was a promoLlonal box on Lhe
bbc.co.uk/england webslLe, and on a selecLlon of 88C
Local homepages across Lngland, as well as Lhe
homepage of Lhe 88C lsland 8logglng pro[ecL ln
ScoLland. lL was also promoLed on Lhe Pave ?our Say
homepage. 1he overall breakdown ls as follows:


! Scot|and Is|and 8|ogg|ng (01]03 - 08]03)
! nave our Say auto-response (03]03 - 20]0S)
! romot|on on bbc.co.uk]eng|and (20]03 -
21]03 and 21]04 for 1 week)
! romot|on on bbc.co.uk]where|||ve (21]03 -
24]03 and 21]04 for 1 week)
! Across homepages on Lng||sh 88C Loca| s|tes
(2S]03 - 20]0S)
! romot|on on nave our Say (2S]03-27]03 &
29]04-1]0S)
! Across 88C Loca| homepages |n Lng|and (w]c
28]04)



/)
!"#$%&'((#)









locus Croups


1welve focus groups were carrled ouL beLween March
and May 2008. 1hey were organlsed demographlcally ln
an aLLempL Lo supplemenL, and explore furLher Lhe
maln flndlngs from Lhe quanLlLaLlve survey.

Group 1 ?ear 1 SLudenLs A8C1, 16-24,
mlxed gender
Group 2 ?ear 1 SLudenLs A8C1, 16-24,
mlxed gender
Group 3 !obseekers C2uL, mlxed age,
mlxed gender
Group 4 uay CenLre uL, 63+
Group S Cardlff 8esldenLs C2uL, mlxed ages
Group 6 Women's
lnsLlLuLe
Members
A8C1, 33+
Group 7 LnvlronmenLal
acLlvlsLs
Mlxed class
background,
mlxed age, mlxed
gender
Group 8 Llons Club A8C2, 33+, mlxed
gender
Group 9 llnal ?ear
SLudenLs
A8C1, 13-14,
mlxed gender
Group 10 Coffee Mornlng,
CloucesLershlre
A8C1, 43-64,
mlxed gender
Group 11 88C ulglLal
SLoryLellers
Mlxed class,
mlxed aged,
mlxed gender
Group 12 88C uCC
ConLrlbuLors
(mlxed class
background,
mlxed age, mlxed
gender)
!













1en of Lhe focus groups were moderaLed and
Lranscrlbed by ur Andrew Wllllams and a furLher Lwo by
Wllllam 1aylor. All parLlclpanLs were recrulLed from
around Cardlff aparL from one whlch Look place ln
CloucesLershlre.
14
Cverwhelmlngly parLlclpanLs had
never conLrlbuLed maLerlal Lo Lhe 88C, aparL from Lhe
flnal Lwo groups whlch were dellberaLely deslgned Lo
lnclude people who had conLrlbuLed. lL should be noLed
LhaL ln some of Lhe oLher groups, parLlclpanLs admlLLed
Lhey had conLrlbuLed maLerlal, even Lhough Lhey had
orlglnally sLaLed Lhey had noL on a pre-quesLlonnalre.

1he ouLllne of Lhe focus groups ls lncluded ln Lhe
appendlx buL lL lncluded:

! arLlclpanLs bralnsLormlng Lhe 'Lypes' of 'uCC' Lhey
could remember and dlscusslng Lhelr feellngs abouL
Lhese dlfferenL 'Lypes'.
! arLlclpanLs waLchlng examples of uCC from 88C
8reakfasL, local reglonal news, readlng Pave ?our
Say message boards, selecLed 88C blogs and
dlscusslng radlo phone-lns.
! arLlclpanLs waLchlng an acLual news lLem from 88C
8reakfasL and belng asked Lo come up wlLh LexLs or
emalls LhaL Lhey mlghL send ln. As a group Lhey had
Lo dlscuss whlch Lhree Lhey would broadcasL lf Lhey
were Lhe edlLor and Lo explaln Lhelr cholces. 1hey
Lhen waLched Lhe orlglnal broadcasL and waLched
whlch LexLs and emalls were acLually read ouL.









!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%&
!1he lpsos MC8l survey demonsLraLed Lhere were no slgnlflcanL
dlfferences by reglon, so lL was Lherefore declded lL was noL
necessary Lo organlse focus groups ln dlfferenL parLs of Lhe counLry.!
!"#$%&'((#)
0)


12 Maln 8esearch Peadllnes

1
2
3
4
3
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
!
!
!
! !
1)
!"#$%&'((#)
1he Lerm user CeneraLed ConLenL ls lnapproprlaLe
and lnadequaLe and should be replaced wlLh
Audlence MaLerlal (p.9).
1here are 3 maln Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal, and
Lhe complexlLles are someLlmes losL because of a
rellance on Lhe caLch-all Lerm 'uCC' (p.10).
!ournallsLs and audlences dlsplay markedly dlfferenL
aLLlLudes Lowards Lhe flve Lypes of Audlence
MaLerlal (p.13).
1echnology ls changlng Lhe volume, ease and speed
of gaLherlng news maLerlal and sources, buL lL has
noL changed Lhe rellance on LradlLlonal [ournallsm
pracLlces (p.22).
Audlence MaLerlal fulflls 6 roles wlLhln Lhe 88C
(p.24).
naLlons and 8eglons have many excellenL examples
of good pracLlce buL noL everyone ls aware of Lhese
aL neLwork level (p.26).
Cverall Lhere ls supporL from Lhe audlence for Lhe
ways ln whlch Lhe 88C has been uslng Audlence
MaLerlal(p.30).
Speclflc calls Lo acLlon are mosL useful for news
gaLherlng, and when ellclLlng hlgh-quallLy relevanL
commenL (p.31).
Cnly a small, selecL group of people submlL
Audlence MaLerlal (p.32).
AL Llmes 'uCC' ls LreaLed as represenLaLlve of Lhe
audlence as a whole, alLhough senlor managemenL
ls aware LhaL Lhls problemaLlc and warns agalnsL Lhe
pracLlce (p.33).
1here are slgnlflcanL barrlers Lo parLlclpaLlon: dlglLal
dlvlde, soclo-economlc background, Lechnologlcal
know-how, lack of lmpeLus, and negaLlve
percepLlons held by Lhe general audlence abouL
Lhose who do conLrlbuLe (p.36).
locus Croup parLlclpanLs suggesLed LhaL Lhere was
no moLlvaLlon Lo conLrlbuLe because of Lhe lack of a
real-world end producL or resulL (p.39).
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
ConLexLuallslng Lhe Peadllnes
!
!
1he Lerm user CeneraLed ConLenL ls
lnapproprlaLe and lnadequaLe
1he Lerm 'uCC' ls a problemaLlc one. As one senlor
edlLor noLed 'lL's an ugly phrase'. noL all 88C [ournallsLs
were aware of Lhe Lerm, and even lf Lhey were aware,
many Lrled noL Lo use lL as Lhey felL lL lnadequaLely
descrlbes Lhe Lypes of maLerlal Lhe 88C recelves or
uses.

Concerns abouL Lhe Lerm 'uCC' sLreLch from senlor
edlLors Lo newly quallfled [ournallsLs, and when Lhe
quesLlon was posed abouL how 'uCC' could be deflned,
everyone gave a dlfferenL answer, underllnlng Lhe
absence of one clear 88C-wlde deflnlLlon

l Lhlnk lL would be wrong Lo assume LhaL Lhere's a
pan-88C pollcy as Lo how we do user CeneraLed
ConLenL ln Lhese dlfferenL Lhlngs. eople Lend Lo
geL lnvolved wlLh parLlcular lnlLlaLlves and
parLlcular lndlvlduals.

Some were noL sure how Lo answer:

l'm noL sure we have a flxed deflnlLlon of 'uCC'.

Well, Lo be honesL wlLh you, l'm noL comforLable
wlLh Lhe Lerm user CeneraLed ConLenL. lL's very
clunky.

CLhers aLLempLed answers whlch Lhey admlLLed were
off Lhe Lop of Lhelr head:

[uCC ls] Lhe LoLallLy of lnformaLlon and commenL
LhaL we recelve from Lhe publlc, LhaL can be a
conLrlbuLlon Lo our [ournallsm.











l Lhlnk lL's any maLerlal or conLenL, LhaL mlghL be
plcLures or vldeo or lL mlghL slmply be
lnformaLlon, whlch ls orlglnaLed and generaLed
by Lhe publlc raLher Lhan by professlonal
[ournallsLs.

1hose who had mosL dlfflculLy wlLh Lhe phrase were
Lhose who do noL rely on Lhe lnLerneL for conLenL from
Lhe audlence. As someone aLLached Lo vldeo naLlon
argued:

l Lhlnk Lhere are a loL of people ln Lhe 88C who've
never felL compleLely comforLable wlLh Lhe label
'user-generaLed conLenL' parLly because Lhe
pro[ecL lLself pre-exlsLed Lhe lnLerneL.

1hls argumenL LhaL 'users' ls a Lerm whlch only applles
Lo Lhose who lnLeracL wlLh Lhe web was ralsed by
dlfferenL people.

Many people who dld know whaL Lhe Lerm meanL dldn'L
llke Lhe Lerm as Lhey felL LhaL lL dldn'L accuraLely
descrlbe whaL lL was, and lL also falled Lo recognlsed Lhe
dlfferenL 'Lypes' of Audlence MaLerlal whlch exlsL.

l [usL geL a blL boLhered by Lhe whole uCC poL,
Lhe bandwagon we all seem Lo have [umped on
whlch can be anyLhlng from an emall Lo
someLhlng whlch can be consldered narraLlve.
8uL Lhey're noL Lhe same Lhlng, you know.

Conslderlng Lhe Lerm ls noL unlversally accepLed, lL
seems senslble Lo aLLempL a change ln overall
Lermlnology from 'uCC' Lo 'Audlence MaLerlal'. ln
addlLlon Lhere ls a need Lo acknowledge Lhe dlfferenL
Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal belng recelved and used by
Lhe 88C.

!"#$%&'((#)
2)

1here are 3 maln Lypes of Audlence
MaLerlal, and Lhe complexlLles are
someLlmes losL because of Lhe rellance on
Lhe caLch-all Lerm 'uCC'

Many of Lhe senlor edlLors lnLervlewed for Lhe research
dlscussed Lhe facL Lhere are dlfferenL Lypes of Audlence
MaLerlal, buL Lhelr Lypologles dlffered.
eLer Porrocks explalned:

l've acLually dlvlded lL lnLo lnformaLlon, whlch
lncludes LexL, vldeo and audlo, whlch ls parL of
our [ournallsm, and commenL. Cbvlously, Lhe
commenL can become someLhlng whlch can be a
dlrecL conLrlbuLlon Lo our [ournallsm buL lLs
purpose ls raLher dlfferenL.

eLer 8lppon (LdlLor, 8adlo 4 M, lM, 8roadcasLlng
Pouse, 1he World AL Cne)

1here are essenLlally Lhree Lypes of user
CeneraLed ConLenL: Lhere's Lhe user generaLed
conLenL LhaL allows users Lo express Lhelr own
oplnlon and venLllaLe debaLe. 1here's Lhe user
generaLed conLenL LhaL ls very much abouL
dellverlng and supporLlng Lhe [ournallsm LhaL we
do. So, eye-wlLness reporLs, 'l've goL Lhe sLory,
are you lnLeresLed?' And Lhen Lhere's Lhe klnd of
publlc lnslghL [ournallsm LhaL Lhey're dolng ln
Amerlca more Lhan here.

8lchard Sambrook (Pead 88C Clobal news):

l have four dlfferenL caLegorles: one ls eye-
wlLness maLerlal whlch may be sLllls or vldeo,
whlch ls Lhe showlng an experlence. And Lhere's
Lhe klnd of oplnlon whlch we've done for
decades, such as radlo phone-lns. We've always
used maLerlal from Lhe publlc or glven a plaLform
for oplnlons by Lhe publlc, buL we're geLLlng a far
greaLer quanLlLy of lL Lhan ever before because of
Lhe Lechnology. 1he Lhlrd caLegory ls abouL











dlscovery: people break news on Lhe web and on
Lhe neL, and bloggers uncover sLorles whlch
[ournallsLs haven'L. 1he flnal caLegory ls whaL ls
known generally Lhese days as neLworked
[ournallsm where you use Lhe experLlse of Lhe
publlc Lo lead or lnform your [ournallsm. lf we
can Lap lnLo LhaL experLlse and use lL Lo lnform
our [ournallsm, lL wlll be beLLer as a resulL. And
LhaL seems Lo me a raLher exclLlng prospecL lf we
can flnd Lhe rlghL ways of harnesslng lL.

1here are dlfferenL Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal, and lL ls
necessary Lo conslder each of Lhese dlfferenL Lypes
separaLely. 1hls research demonsLraLes very clearly
LhaL: 1) audlences have dlfferenL oplnlons abouL Lhe
dlfferenL Lypes, 2) [ournallsLs have dlfferenL oplnlons
abouL Lhe dlfferenL Lypes, 3) dlfferenL [ournallsLs use
dlfferenL Lypes ln dlfferenL ways, 4) dlfferenL Lypes play
dlfferenL roles wlLhln Lhe 88C, and 3) dlfferenL Lypes
ulLlmaLely provlde dlfferenL opporLunlLles and suffer
from a varleLy of weaknesses. 1he dlfferenL Lypes of
Audlence MaLerlal can be consldered uslng Lhe
followlng Lypology:
























*3)
!"#$%&'((#)
!
! ! !!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
AuulLnCL CCn1Ln1
AuulLnCL CCMMLn1S
CCLLA8C8A1lvL CCn1Ln1
nL1WC8kLu !Cu8nALlSM
Audlence looLage
Audlence
Lxperlences
Audlence SLorles
nCn-nLWS CCn1Ln1










WlLhln Audlence ConLenL, Lhere are Lhree maln sub-
caLegorles: Audlence looLage (breaklng news
phoLographs and vldeos), Audlence Lxperlences (case
sLudles conLrlbuLed ln response Lo a 88C news sLory),
and Audlence SLorles (sLory Llp-offs from Lhe audlence
whlch are noL on Lhe 88C news agenda).

Audlence CommenLs are oplnlons shared ln response Lo
a call Lo acLlon, a radlo phone-ln, a presenLer requesL on
a Lelevlslon news programme, or a Pave ?our Say
debaLe.

CollaboraLlve ConLenL refers Lo maLerlal whlch ls
produced by Lhe audlence, buL wlLh Lralnlng and
supporL from 88C [ournallsLs and producers. 1hls could
be a dlglLal sLory, a vldeo naLlon shorL fllm, or a radlo
plece produced by a CommunlLy reporLer.

neLworked [ournallsm ls a Lerm colned by new medla
commenLaLor !eff !arvls and 'Lakes lnLo accounL Lhe
collaboraLlve naLure of [ournallsm: professlonals and
amaLeurs worklng LogeLher Lo geL Lhe real sLory, llnklng
Lo each oLher across brands and old boundarles Lo
share facLs, quesLlons, answers, ldeas, perspecLlves. lL
recognlses Lhe complex relaLlonshlps LhaL wlll make
news. And lL focuses on Lhe process more Lhan Lhe
producL.'
13
1he Lerm ls lncluded here because lL ls belng
used by senlor execuLlves aL Lhe 88C Lo descrlbe
lnlLlaLlves whlch expllclLly aLLempL Lo Lap lnLo experL
communlLles wlLhln Lhe audlence Lo lmprove Lhe quallLy
of [ournallsLlc ouLpuL.

non-news conLenL refers Lo phoLographs of wlldllfe,
scenlc weaLher or communlLy evenLs. Cn Lhe Where l
Llve slLes, lL would also refer Lo onllne resLauranL
revlews, recommendaLlons for walks or local evenLs of
Lhe sorL commonly found on Lhe 88C Local webslLes.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%'
!www.buzzmachlne.com/2006/07/03/neLworked-
[ournallsm/)!!










1he followlng page demonsLraLes Lhe Lenslons whlch
exlsL beLween Lhese dlfferenL Lypes of Audlence
MaLerlal.
!"#$%&'((#)
**)
!
Axls 1
1echnologlcal Plerarchy of 'uCC'


nIGn

roduclng collaboraLlve ouLpuL Lo
be broadcasL or publlshed


WrlLlng a blog posL


Sendlng ln a vldeo by moblle phone


Sendlng ln a vldeo from a vldeo
camera


1exLlng ln a phoLo by moblle


Lmalllng a phoLo Laken by a camera


Sendlng an emall


Sendlng a LexL


Calllng Lhe 88C


Sendlng a leLLer


LCW

Axls 2
normaLlve Plerarchy of 'uCC'


nIGn

CollaboraLlve ConLenL (communlLy
reporLers/dlglLal sLoryLelllng)


lnnovaLlve onllne collaboraLlon
(programme blogs llke lM,
newsnlghL)


Audlence news SLorles (news Llp-
offs)


Audlence news looLage (breaklng
news fooLage)


Audlence Lxperlence (whlch
supporLs exlsLlng agenda, e.g.
dlrecL experlence of news sLorles:
phoLos, experlences or quesLlons
for guesLs)


Audlence CommenL (supporLlng
exlsLlng news agenda, e.g. oplnlons
and commenLs)

non-news audlence conLenL (non-
news sLorles or phoLos)


LCW

Axls 3
value Lo 88C news (measured by
lmpacL vs. cosL)

nIGn

Audlence news looLage
(breaklng news fooLage)


Audlence news SLorles (news Llp-
offs)


lnnovaLlve onllne collaboraLlon
(programme blogs llke lM,
newsnlghL)


news collaboraLlve conLenL
(communlLy reporLers, vldeo
naLlon lnpuL on anorama)


Audlence Lxperlence (whlch
supporLs exlsLlng news agenda)


Audlence CommenL (whlch
supporLs exlsLlng news agenda)

non-news Audlence ConLenL


non-news CollaboraLlve ConLenL
(dlglLal sLoryLelllng)


LCW

Axls 4
Pow Audlence values 'uCC'?


nIGn

Audlence news looLage
(breaklng news fooLage)


lnnovaLlve onllne collaboraLlon
(programme blogs llke lM,
newsnlghL)


Audlence news SLorles (news Llp-
offs)


Audlence Lxperlence (whlch
supporLs exlsLlng agenda, e.g.
dlrecL experlence of news sLorles:
phoLos, experlences or quesLlons
for guesLs)


CollaboraLlve ConLenL (communlLy
reporLers/dlglLal sLoryLelllng)


Audlence CommenL (whlch
supporLs exlsLlng news agenda)


non-news audlence conLenL (non-
news sLorles or phoLos)


LCW!

!




!ournallsLs and audlences dlsplay markedly
dlfferenL aLLlLudes Lowards Lhe flve Lypes of
Audlence MaLerlal

Aud|ence News Iootage

1he audlence ls very poslLlve abouL Lhe use of fooLage
submlLLed by Lhe publlc for breaklng news sLorles.
8espondenLs felL LhaL Audlence looLage shoL before
[ournallsLs could arrlve on Lhe scene could only lmprove
Lhe quallLy of Lhe news ouLpuL.

1he lmpacL of Lhe 'uCC' Pub ln Lerms of Lhe 88C's
ablllLy Lo broadcasL and publlsh quallLy breaklng news
fooLage ls wlLhouL quesLlon. A 'uCC' Pub [ournallsL Lold
us how Lhey were able Lo geL fooLage, and eye
wlLnesses onLo dlfferenL 88C ouLleLs very qulckly:
'when a blg sLory breaks, llke Clasgow alrporL, LhaL ls a
fanLasLlc opporLunlLy Lo see Lhe machlne worklng and
worklng well'.

Whlle focus group respondenLs were overwhelmlngly
poslLlve abouL breaklng news fooLage, Lhere were some
concerns abouL quallLy, buL respondenLs generally felL
LhaL any weakness ln Lhe maLerlal was balanced by Lhe
'lmmedlacy' and 'access' of Lhe Audlence MaLerlal.

8ose: l Lhlnk LhaL Lhere's a Lrade-off, lf you llke,
Lhe Lrade-off for seelng someLhlng lmmedlaLe
Lhrough Lhe eyes of a normal person. lL's llke
seelng lL Lhrough our eyes because LhaL ls whaL
we would see lf we were Lhere. Cf course lL
would have been nlcer lf a reporLer was Lhere as
you would have seen more, buL l Lhlnk LhaL's
whaL we're prepared Lo glve up for Lhe
lmmedlacy and belng able Lo see lL as we would
baslcally see lL, raLher Lhan fllLered Lhrough Lhe
eyes of a professlonal. (locus Croup 6)

1here were concerns shared by some audlence
members LhaL Lhe exclLemenL abouL audlence fooLage
meanL LhaL non-breaklng news mlghL be covered [usL
because of unseen maLerlal. 1hls concern was echoed








by some [ournallsLs, who suggesLed LhaL LhaL avallablllLy
of audlence maLerlal mlghL skew [udgemenLs of news
value.

l remember a sLory abouL a flre ln a shop, whlch
was run on a laLe bulleLln when we were a blL
LlghL for news. Somebody had fllmed a flre ln a
shop on a camera phone, and we LhoughL greaL.
We used lL. And Lhen you look back and Lhlnk,
acLually, maybe LhaL wasn'L good enough quallLy.
lf Lord Lucan rldes Shergar lnLo Lhe clLy cenLre
and we only have lL on camera phone we would
sLlll use lL. lf lL's a small shop flre, LhaL geLs puL
ouL afLer an hour, and nobody geLs hurL and we
have lL on camera phone, ls lL really LhaL
newsworLhy?

Aud|ence News Stor|es

Scourlng audlence maLerlal for sLory Llp-offs ls a ma[or
parL of Lhe work done by [ournallsLs aL Lhe Pub, and
was seen by many as an lmporLanL pay-off for all of Lhe
Llme Lhey spenL moderaLlng Pave ?our Say debaLes.

'uCC' Pub 8roadcasL !ournallsL: '[1he Pub] ls
absoluLely brllllanL for generaLlng sLorles. l would
say LhaL's one of Lhe Lhlngs lL ls besL for. 1elllng
you abouL a sLory you dldn'L know abouL or Lelllng
you someLhlng new abouL a sLory. We have a
SuggesL a SLory lnbox, and LhaL ls full of people e-
malllng us and saylng, 'dld you know Lhls was
happenlng, because lL's an ouLrage'. And Lhe same
rules apply. We have Lo rlng Lhem back or e-mall
Lhem and check lL ouL, buL we geL a loL of sLorles
LhaL way...1he 'uCC' sLuff LhaL comes lnLo LhaL
lnbox ls absoluLe dynamlLe.

uesplLe Lhese examples, overall, lL was qulLe sLrlklng
how few 'new' sLorles were belng developed on Lhe
basls of audlence conLrlbuLlons. 1hls ls perhaps
unsurprlslng conslderlng Lhere are llmlLed 'dlrecL
requesLs' for audlences Lo send ln Lhelr sLorles. Whlle
our ConLenL Analysls was noL represenLaLlve and cannoL
be generallsed, lL ls worLh noLlng LhaL Lhere were no
dlrecL requesLs for news sLorles on neLwork
!"#$%&'((#)
*,)
!

news and reglonal news (88C Wales was used as an
example of 8eglonal 8adlo), 3 requesLs on neLwork
radlo and 9 requesLs on 88C Wales (who have a regular
'?our SLorles' segmenL on Lhelr early evenlng news).
1here were 'your sLory' suggesLlons on Lhe Pave your
Say slLe, and on some programme webslLes, buL overall,
Lhese requesLs for sLory suggesLlons and Llp-offs were
much less frequenL Lhan requesLs for Audlence
CommenLs.

Audlences wanL Lo be more lnvolved ln Lhe news
process. As Lhe MC8l survey demonsLraLed, 61 of Lhe
8rlLlsh publlc agree or sLrongly agree LhaL lL ls good for
Lhe publlc Lo be lnvolved wlLh produclng Lhe news
raLher Lhan leavlng lL Lo Lhe [ournallsLs. 1he beneflLs Lo
Lhe audlence were ralsed ln some of Lhe focus groups,
parLlcularly ln Lerms of produclng sLorles or fooLage
whlch oLherwlse wouldn'L have been uncovered.

uane: l Lhlnk Lhere's a process here whlch
ls probably unsLoppable. lL's relaLed Lo
blogglng, lL's relaLed Lo Lhe Lechnology LhaL
makes lL posslble for people on Lhe ground
Lo conLrlbuLe a flow of lnformaLlon. ln
some places lL has produced fabulous
maLerlal from places where [ournallsLs
couldn'L go or perspecLlves LhaL [ournallsLs
would never geL. (locus Croup 9)

llo: l Lhlnk also LhaL loLs of people wanL Lo
geL lnvolved wlLh Lhe news. 1hey don'L
wanL Lo feel LhaL lL's someLhlng aparL from
Lhem. And seelng LhaL we are all parL of Lhe
news anyway, and lL's our llves, whaLever. l
can undersLand when people feel llke Lhey
mlghL wanL Lo be conLrlbuLlng, and geLLlng
lnvolved, and be parL of lL. (locus Croup 2)

1here are many examples of good pracLlce from 88C
Wales ln Lerms of bulldlng relaLlonshlps wlLh hard-Lo-
reach communlLles. 1he resulLs of Lhese collaboraLlons
are qulLe sLrlklng. 1hese relaLlonshlps produce sLorles
whlch would oLherwlse sLay under Lhe radar of Lhe 88C
and would probably remaln unLouched by Lhe
malnsLream medla. Also, because sLorles come dlrecLly







from communlLles, Lhey are ofLen more relevanL Lo a
wlder range of audlence groups.

Co||aborat|ve Content

Many audlence members dld noL know abouL Lhe
dlfferenL Lypes of collaboraLlve [ournallsm whlch Lakes
place and were Lherefore unable Lo commenL on Lhls
Lype of Audlence MaLerlal. 1he reason lL ls llsLed
relaLlvely hlghly on Lhe value Lo Lhe Audlence Axls ls
LhaL Lhose who dld know whaL lL was, and had had
dlrecL experlence of lL were exLremely enLhuslasLlc
abouL Lhe process, as well as Lhe end producL.

Cne of our focus groups was wlLh people who had been
lnvolved ln Lhe 88C Wales CapLure Wales ulglLal
SLoryLelllng pro[ecL. 1he LesLlmony of Lhe parLlclpanLs
ln Lhe focus group provlded a gllmpse of how such
lnLervenLlon-based parLlclpaLory [ournallsm can
succeed ln reachlng groups (lower soclo-economlc
groups, Lhe elderly, mlnorlLy eLhnlc groups eLc) whlch
are under-represenLed when lL comes Lo more
'convenLlonal' forms of Audlence MaLerlal.

A number of group members had lnsplraLlonal sLorles Lo
Lell abouL how Lhelr parLlclpaLlon ln Lhe 88C's
programme had changed Lhelr llves, and glven Lhem Lhe
confldence Lo succeed ln areas Lhey had prevlously
LhoughL lmposslble. Cne parLlclpanL suffers from a
degeneraLlve lllness and uses a wheelchalr. Pe made a
sLory whlch has now been vlewed 10,000 Llmes and has
been useful Lo oLher sufferers of Lhe lllness. AnoLher
was a pensloner and housewlfe who had lefL school aL
13 and had prevlously never learned any compuLer
skllls. ?eL anoLher had been ouL of work slnce breaklng
hls neck ln a car accldenL, buL was spurred on by hls
dlglLal sLoryLelllng experlence Lo flnd successful pald
work ln Lhe volunLary secLor maklng dlglLal sLorles and
shorL vldeo pleces wlLh underprlvlleged chlldren.

1he experlences also made parLlclpanLs regard Lhe 88C
very warmly. lL was commonplace LhroughouL Lhe focus
groups Lo hear people from lower soclo-economlc
groups Lalk abouL Lhe 88C llcence fee wlLh Lhlnly velled
*-)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







conLempL, buL !une and lrank, Lwo worklng class
pensloners from newporL had dlfferenL ldeas:

!une: ?ou know, lL makes me feel LhaL Lhe llcence
ls worLh lL because we are lnvolved. We've
done a llLLle blL for Lhe 88C, so l Lhlnk, oh,
you know Lhey are dolng someLhlng for
ordlnary people. l mean, for me, llke l say,
lf Lhey can Leach me Lo do LhaL Lhen Lhey
can Leach anyone. 8ecause l wenL Lhere
llLerally wlLh no ldea.
lrank: lL's amazlng Lhe world LhaL opens up when
you geL on Lhe compuLer webslLes and
whaLnoL.
!une: 1haL's whaL l llked abouL lL, Lhe [dlglLal
sLoryLelllng] Leam. 1hey dldn'L sorL of bully
you. 1hey sorL of coaxed lL ouL of me and l
dldn'L feel lnLlmldaLed or anyLhlng. 1hey
[usL were so clever.
lrank: l Lhlnk whaL !une ls also Lrylng Lo geL
across ls LhaL !une ls a housewlfe, aren'L
you !une? Well, you are a housewlfe, l'm
an old fogey, l'm 71, and yeL Lhey are sLlll
lnLeresLed ln people llke myself and !une.
And l Lhlnk lL's Lerrlflc honesLly. (locus
Croup 8)

1o daLe much of Lhls collaboraLlve conLenL has
produced 'non-news conLenL', or conLenL whlch has
only appeared aL Lhe marglns of news and currenL
affalrs ouLpuL, for example Lhe work done by ulglLal
SLoryLelllng or vldeo naLlon Leams. 1he challenge
appears Lo be wheLher space can be made for Lhls Lype
of collaboraLlve conLenL ln malnsLream news and
currenL affalrs ouLleLs.

1here are some examples of [ournallsL/audlence
collaboraLlons around news and currenL affalrs Loplcs.
Cne example ls a plloL pro[ecL beLween vldeo naLlon
and anorama ln whlch Lhe vldeo naLlon Leam worked
wlLh young people Lo Lry and generaLe conLenL abouL
Lhe credlL crunch and people's personal feellngs abouL









Lhelr homes and how Lhey are belng affecLed more
generally.

AlLhough Lhose who have parLlclpaLed ln Lhe dlglLal
sLoryLelllng workshops are very enLhuslasLlc abouL Lhe
process, lL sLlll has a relaLlvely low proflle, parLlcularly
ouLslde Wales, and ln lLs currenL form ls noL deslgned
for news and currenL affalrs ouLleLs.

vldeo naLlon, sLarLed ln 1993 ls perhaps Lhe mosL well-
known example of collaboraLlve conLenL aL Lhe 88C. 1he
fllms are shoL by people and edlLed by Lhe 88C, buL
overall conLrol resLs wlLh Lhe conLrlbuLor. SlgnlflcanLly
ln recenL years, ln addlLlon Lo lLs LradlLlonal sloL on
88C2, vldeo naLlon has been commlssloned Lo produce
fllms whlch would flL lnLo larger 88C pro[ecLs and
seasons.

Cne of Lhese lnlLlaLlves was a serles of fllms wlLh whlLe
worklng class people as parL of 88C2's WhlLe Season.
AnoLher was a serles of 30 fllms produced wlLh dlfferenL
Chlnese communlLles whlch have been shown on blg
screens across Lhe counLry Lo mark Lhe Clymplcs
Cames. ln Lerms of Lhe poLenLlal opporLunlLles for 88C
[ournallsm, vldeo naLlon has worked wlLh anorama Lo
produce fllms by young people Lalklng abouL Lhe ways
ln whlch Lhe credlL crunch ls affecLlng Lhelr llves.

AlLhough vldeo naLlon ls careful Lo deflne lLself as
documenLary, Lhere appear Lo be lnLeresLlng ways ln
whlch lL can be lncorporaLed lnLo currenL affalrs
programmlng.

AnoLher [ournallsm relaLed example of collaboraLlve
conLenL ls School 8eporL, an annual evenL whlch
encourages 11- Lo 14-year-olds Lo engage wlLh Lhe news
(Lhrough collaboraLlon beLween schools and Lhe 88C)
by helplng Lhem make Lhelr own news reporLs for real
audlences. As Pelen Shreve, Lhe LdlLor and ro[ecL
Leader for School 8eporL explalns: 'We're abouL Lrylng
Lo geL klds and Leachers Lo Lhlnk abouL whaL's Lhe sLory,
whaL audlence Lhey're appeallng Lo, how Lo Lell Lhelr
!"#$%&'((#)
*.)
!

sLory ln an appeallng way, and how Lo do lL wlLh a
real deadllne.'

1he ma[or drawback of Lhese Lypes of collaboraLlons ls
Lhe cosL and for Lhls reason such lnlLlaLlves are sLlll
relaLlvely rare. Cne sLaff member [ournallsL noLed LhaL
Lhe dlglLal sLory model seemed Lo requlre exLenslve
lnpuL from 88C sLaff, and suggesLed LhaL Lhe value of
such schemes should be gauged by balanclng Lhe
producLlon Llme and cosL agalnsL Lhe beneflLs of Lhe
skllls Lransferred, Lhe experlence of Lhe conLrlbuLor, and
Lhe usage of Lhe flgures for Lhe maLerlal produced. lL
was suggesLed LhaL Lhe resulLs of Lhls equaLlon be
compared wlLh Lhe cosLs and beneflLs of alLernaLlve
radlo, 1v or new medla conLenL.

uesplLe much of Lhe rheLorlc LhaL has surrounded Lhe
growLh of 'uCC' whlch lmplles lL has democraLlsed Lhe
producLlon of news and led Lo collaboraLlon beLween
Lhe publlc and [ournallsLs, mosL of Lhe examples of
news-relaLed 'uCC' we encounLered lnvolved llLLle
more Lhan Lhe sLralghLforward 'use' of audlence
maLerlal by [ournallsLs. MosL news 'uCC', ls llLLle more
Lhan a novel alLernaLlve source of raw maLerlal among
many.!!As one [ournallsL sLressed, newsrooms could be
dolng more Lo encourage audlence members Lo have
more lmpacL on Lhe flnal producL.

When a newsroom geLs a Llp-off Lhey mlghL be
lnLeresLed ln offerlng LhaL person Lhe Llme Lo go
ouL and record some maLerlal Lhemselves, or Lo
go ouL and record some new audlo and broadcasL
LhaL on Lhe radlo, or Lo glve Lhem a camera and
ask Lhem Lo go ouL and shooL Lhelr own sLory...
1haL happens less ofLen ln general newsrooms
because lL's so labour lnLenslve, buL LhaL ls Lhe
ulLlmaLe 88C verslon of 'uCC' because lL glves so
much conLrol Lo Lhe audlence member. l don'L
Lhlnk Lhere are oLher news organlsaLlons whlch
offer LhaL klnd of guldance ln Lerms of
producLlon, LhaL klnd of educaLlonal value.

Cne posslble soluLlon, and Lhls would need Lo be a long
Lerm sLraLegy, ls for Lhe Lralnlng of poLenLlal clLlzen







[ournallsLs, perhaps llnked Lo exlsLlng groups or
organlsaLlons (communlLy medla groups, lL and PL
lnsLlLuLlons, eLc) who could conLlnue Lhe Lralnlng, so
88C [ournallsLs wouldn'L have Lo be conLlnuously
dlrecLly lnvolved ln helplng Lo creaLe ouLpuL. Lxamples
of Lhese Lypes of lnlLlaLlves can be found ln Lhe work of
88C Wales' CommunlLles LdlLor, Cwenda 8lchards, who
ls leadlng a Leam responslble for a number of dlfferenL
lnlLlaLlves whlch faclllLaLe ouLreach wlLh Lhe wlder
audlence, such as CommunlLy 8eporLers, Lhe radlo
programme '1he vlew from Pere' and Lhe mulLlmedla
pro[ecL 'ln Lhe lrame'. Slmllarly ln oLher local
newsrooms such as aL 88C London, Lhere ls a 'uCC'
producer whose remlL ls Lo encourage lnnovaLlve
relaLlonshlps wlLh Lhe audlence, parLlcularly hard Lo
reach communlLles. 1helr work demonsLraLes LhaL Lhere
are oLher ways Lo lnLeracL wlLh Lhe audlence and Lo
encourage Lhe audlence Lo provlde useful and relevanL
conLenL and feedback.

As long as Lhe resulL of Lhe collaboraLlon ls of hlgh
quallLy, Lhe general audlence ls enLhuslasLlc abouL
havlng a greaLer role ln Lhe producLlon of Lhe news. And
for Lhose who Lake parL ln Lhe collaboraLlons Lhe resulLs
are undenlable. lor some Lhe effecLs are llLerally llfe
changlng. lL ls also a valuable way Lo properly engage
wlLh communlLles whlch oLherwlse remaln almosL
enLlrely unrepresenLed by Lhe malnsLream medla, and
whlch, as our MC8l survey shows, are very unllkely Lo
submlL news relaLed audlence conLenL ln lLs mosL
common forms.

*/)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







Aud|ence Lxper|ence

Audlences are generally poslLlve abouL Lhe use of dlrecL
experlences from Lhe publlc Lo add Lo an exlsLlng news
package or currenL affalrs dlscusslon. 1hey were more
poslLlve abouL commenL based conLenL relaLlng Lo
experlences of a news evenL, compared Lo purely
oplnlon based commenLs. 1he onllne survey (whlch ls
llmlLed by Lhe self-selecLed sample and focused on
onllne lnLeracLlons) showed LhaL ln Lhelr lasL lnLeracLlon
wlLh Lhe 88C 13 had conLacLed Lhe organlsaLlon wlLh
an accounL of an experlence or sLory suggesLlon (11
wlLh an eyewlLness phoLograph and 2 wlLh an ldea for
a news sLory) whlle 31 had submlLLed an oplnlon or
commenL.

1he lpsos MC8l survey showed LhaL only 3 of Lhe
8rlLlsh publlc had conLacLed a news organlsaLlon Lo
expose or Lell a sLory (14 of Lhose who had
conLrlbuLed anyLhlng Lo a news organlsaLlon). ln
comparlson, 10 of Lhe 8rlLlsh populaLlon (and 42 of
Lhose who had conLrlbuLed anyLhlng) had conLacLed a
news organlsaLlon ln response Lo someLhlng Lhey heard
or saw on Lhe news (lL should be noLed Lhls could have
been reacLlng Lo a sLory wlLh an oplnlon or a dlrecL
experlence).

!ournallsLs were aware of Lhe dlfferenL Lypes of
Audlence MaLerlal Lhey mlghL recelve, and Lhere ls
clearly a hlerarchy ln Lerms of Lhe beneflLs of Lhe
dlfferenL Lypes. llndlng audlence members wlLh dlrecL
experlence of a sLory was a ma[or alm of Lhe Pub
[ournallsLs.

Cne explalned Lhe besL way Lo geL case sLudles of
dlrecL experlence ls Lo creaLe a posL form afLer an
onllne sLory. '8arely a day goes by when a posL does noL
glve us a very good lead'.

1here are Lwo dlfferenL ways of looklng aL Lhe
debaLes. lor Lhe 'Pave ?our Say' slde of Lhe
operaLlon, of course, everyLhlng ls good quallLy,
because Lhe whole purpose of LhaL ls Lo glve








people a chance Lo have Lhelr say as Lhey would
on any oLher chaL forum LhaL ls on Lhe lnLerneL.
8uL from a 'uCC' perspecLlve, we are obvlously
looklng for a very dlfferenL klnd of lnvolvemenL,
because we are looklng for dlrecL experlences of
sLorles whlch we can use ln dlfferenL news
ouLleLs.

A [ournallsL from Lhe 'uCC' Pub provlded a deLalled
explanaLlon of how an emall from a 8rlLlsh man llvlng ln
Creece durlng Lhe flres lasL summer provlded a wealLh
of dlfferenL maLerlal. Pe offered eye-wlLness phoLos
and was wllllng Lo Lalk abouL Lhe phoLos for news 24 as
well as local radlo (Lhereby offerlng a local perspecLlve
on an lnLernaLlonal sLory). Pe also agreed Lo wrlLe an
onllne dlary abouL hls experlences as Lhe flres
progressed, and Lhe [ournallsL was also able Lo go back
Lo hlm 6 weeks laLer Lo do a follow up sLory.

!ournallsLs percelve a hlerarchy beLween experlence
and oplnlon, and Lend Lo prlvllege dlrecL experlence
over oplnlon where posslble. 1hls ls echoed ln Lhe
vlews of many audlence members.

Clenda: l Lhlnk l prefer sLorles Lo oplnlons. Llke, lf
Lhey'd been Lalklng abouL domesLlc pollLlcs, even
Lhough lL's serlous lL would sLlll be lnLeresLlng Lo
hear people's experlences and sLorles of
hosplLals and sLuff, raLher Lhan [usL Lhelr
oplnlons. 8ecause Lhen LhaL's [usL llke Lhe Pave
?our Say Lhlng agaln. (locus Croup 1)

8ecause of Lhe hlgh news value aLLached by [ournallsLs
Lo audlence maLerlal assoclaLed wlLh dlrecL experlence
of a sLory, and Lhe popularlLy of such maLerlal wlLh
audlences, lL seems reasonable Lo lnvesL more Llme and
resources lnLo encouraglng audlence members Lo
submlL experlences raLher Lhan commenLs. CommenLs
do have worLh and Lhey wlll always exlsL on radlo call-
lns, blogs and message boards. 8uL currenLly, glven Lhe
lmporLance boLh [ournallsLs and audlences aLLach Lo
audlence conLenL based on lnformed oplnlon and
accounLs rooLed ln dlrecL experlence, Lhls klnd of
conLenL ls noL encouraged or ellclLed enough
!"#$%&'((#)
*0)
!

Networked Iourna||sm

neLworked [ournallsm ls Lhe mosL underdeveloped Lype
of 'uCC' aL Lhe 88C, and ls happenlng very lnfrequenLly,
buL as 8lchard Sambrook explalns, lL offers a greaL deal
of poLenLlal lf harnessed correcLly. 8adlo 4's lM blog ls
an example of Lhe ways ln whlch neLworked [ournallsm
can be used effecLlvely.

1he uS provldes a number of lnLeresLlng poLenLlal
models, whlch have been made successful by naLlonal
ubllc 8adlo (n8) and encouraged by Lhe ubllc
!ournallsm movemenL whlch has been acLlve ln Lhe uS
slnce Lhe early 1990s, and aLLempLs Lo embed
grassrooLs [ournallsm wlLhln malnsLream medla ouLleLs.

1he edlLor of lM, eLer 8lppon, draws on Lhese uS
examples when he dlscusses Lhe success of Lhe lM
blog.

1here's an n8 speclal LhaL's dolng very well ln
Lhe uS where you acLlvely call communlLles of
clLlzens and hold publlc meeLlngs. l Lhlnk we
should be leadlng Lhe way ln Lerms of grassrooLs
democraLlc [ournallsm and l don'L Lhlnk we are.
lL's abouL how we could sLep up Lo LhaL level.

lM's sLrengLh ls LhaL lL has developed a loyalLy from lLs
audlence and lnLeresLed groups, whlch, when asked,
provlde experlences and experLlse relaLed Lo a
parLlcular sLory. eLer 8lppon explalned how neLworked
[ournallsm can work. 1hrough an emall from a llsLener,
Lhey had uncovered an unseLLllng medlcal pracLlce
whereby famllles were havlng Lo pay qulLe a subsLanLlal
amounL of money Lo docLors ln order for bodles Lo be
released from hosplLal for cremaLlon. 8y searchlng
medlcal blogs Lhey were able Lo flnd lnformaLlon abouL
Lhls pracLlce, whlch ls known amongsL Lhe medlcal
communlLy as 'ash cash'. 8y seeklng experL oplnlons
from docLors Lhey were able Lo do a sLrong plece on Lhe
Loplc.
lL's noL us belng advocaLes buL lf we apply our
[ournallsLlc skllls, you can [usL mould Lhese Lhlngs
lnLo really good pleces of [ournallsm.







neLworked [ournallsm can empower Lhe audlence ln
dlrecL ways. uslng a grassrooLs, publlc [ournallsm-
lnfluenced, model whlch emphaslses local meeLlngs and
communlLy reporLers, lL can reconnecL malnsLream
medla wlLh Lhe local communlLles. Cr, when used ln Lhe
ways lM have demonsLraLed, by connecLlng wlLh
experL communlLles wlLhln Lhe blogosphere, lL can
empower audlence members wlLh parLlcular speclallsL
knowledge or experlences Lo become dlrecLly lnvolved
ln Lhe research and producLlon of a news sLory or lLem.

1he sLrengLh of Lhe 88C ls lLs lnLernaLlonal
recognlLlon and audlence. lor every sLory, Lhere are
oplnlons and experlences from across Lhe globe. 1hls
glves Lhe 88C a unlque opporLunlLy. As SLeve
Perrmann descrlbes

Cne oLher Lhlng LhaL's helped us hugely ls Lhe
quallLy and spread of our audlence. We've goL a
very lnLernaLlonal audlence. Anywhere
someLhlng happens, preLLy much, we wlll flnd
somebody. Somebody wlll conLacL us. We wlll puL
a form on a sLory, however remoLe a place and
unllkely lL sounds, and we'll geL someLhlng back.
And LhaL's of real value Lo Lhe resL of Lhe
audlence. WhaL we're acLually dolng ls... acLlng as
a klnd of megaphone and geLLlng Lhese people
who conLacL us and reflecLlng back ouL... Lo Lhe
resL of Lhe flve-and-a-half mllllon users whaL's
golng on Lhere and whaL Lhey're saylng.

Many of Lhe senlor [ournallsLs lnLervlewed for Lhls
research Lalked enLhuslasLlcally abouL Lhe posslblllLles
provlded by neLworked !ournallsm. lL would requlre a
change of emphasls, and work on developlng
relaLlonshlps wlLh key communlLles of experLlse wlLhln
Lhe audlence, parLlcularly Lhe blogosphere, buL Lhe
advanLages ln Lerms of lmprovlng Lhe quallLy of Lhe
ouLpuL are clear.

*1)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







Non-news Aud|ence Content

1he onllne survey emphaslsed LhaL a number of 88C
audlence members have senL ln non-news phoLographs
and Lhey en[oy dolng LhaL. 27 of Lhe 686 people who
answered Lhe quesLlon abouL Lhe lasL Lype of
submlsslon Lhey had made Lo Lhe 88C sald Lhey had
senL ln a non-news phoLo. 1hls was Lhe second-mosL
common reason for conLacLlng Lhe 88C for Lhese
respondenLs (32 sald Lhey had made a commenL ln
response Lo a 88C news sLory or debaLe).

MosL older audlence members ln Lhe focus groups
en[oyed non-news conLenL, wlLh many commenLlng
LhaL lL provlded a welcome rellef from Lhe dleL of
'negaLlve' news.

!osh: lL [usL Lakes you away from all of Lhe
pollLlcal sLrlfe, and Lhe dlsasLers, and all Lhe
problems LhaL you hear abouL. lL [usL brlngs you
back lnLo a llghLer world for a mlnuLe. [...] As
somebody sald earller on, Lhe only news you hear
abouL ls bad news. 1haL's all we geL. And we do
need Lo know abouL lL. 8uL we also need Lo
reallse, hang on a sec, lL's a greaL world ouL Lhere.
lL's a beauLlful place. And a few phoLographs of
LhaL ls a good Lhlng.

l Lhlnk lL maybe suggesLs LhaL programme makers
and Lhe newsreaders are ln Louch wlLh Lhelr
vlewers. When Lhey show sLuff llke Lhe phoLos of
people's lebruary mornlngs or whaLever, l Lhlnk
lL shows LhaL you are ln Louch wlLh your vlewers
and whaL your vlewers are up Lo. (Croup 4)

1hese vlews however were ofLen noL shared by younger
members of Lhe audlence. ueLracLors were voclferous
ln Lhelr crlLlclsm, seelng non-news phoLographs as:
'polnLless' and 'borlng', ofLen of poor quallLy,
lnsubsLanLlal 'flller' maLerlal, evldence of dumblng
down, and ofLen presenLed ln a paLronlslng way whlch
deLracLs from Lhe serlousness of Lhe news lLems whlch
precedes and follows Lhem on programmes such as 88C
8reakfasL.








8ecca: lL [usL seems llke flller.
Charles: WhaL lL made me Lhlnk of ls, you know ln
Ooe llew ovet tbe cockoo's Nest? 1hey
played sooLhlng muslc when Lhey are
glvlng Lhe lnmaLes Lhelr medlcaLlon. 1hey
calm Lhe menLal paLlenLs lnLo a hypnoLlc
sLupor by playlng Lhls sooLhlng muslc.
lcLures llke LhaL, nlce plcLures of sunseLs,
always make me Lhlnk of LhaL. (locus
Croup 2)

CLhers felL non-news phoLographs were purely abouL
'cusLomer relaLlons':

uane: 1o me lL's abouL a sorL of, raLher LokenlsLlc,
raLher paLronlslng 'we wanL your lnpuL'. 1hey
don'L really, l don'L Lhlnk. l Lhlnk lL's a sorL of
markeLlng. Ckay, lf you had a fanLasLlc phoLo
Lhen greaL. 8uL Lo me Lhese phoLos aren'L
lnLeresLlng. 1here ls noLhlng abouL Lhem LhaL
merlLs Lhem belng on Lhe screen. 8y puLLlng
Lhese phoLos up lL creaLes a good klnd of
cusLomer relaLlons. l don'L know. l don'L
parLlcularly llke lL. And Lhe whole Lone ls very
paLronlslng. 'Ch, whaL a lovely sunseL'. ?ou
know? (locus Croup 9)

A number of people dlsapproved of non-news
phoLographs belng broadcasL on programmes whlch
were expllclLly concerned wlLh presenLlng Lhe news, buL
were qulLe happy Lo encounLer Lhem ln oLher conLexLs
(such as on 88C Local webslLes, or ln weaLher bulleLlns):

Pelen: lf l wanL Lo see plcLures l'll go and flnd
Lhem... l go ln my own Llme Lo look aL Lhem.
When l see lL on 1v, lL's almosL llke Lhey are
saylng you should be lnLeresLed ln Lhls. l don'L
know, lL [usL sorL of graLes on me. (locus Croup
9)

!"#$%&'((#)
*2)
!

Aud|ence Comment

1hls was Lhe maln way audlences had conLrlbuLed Lo
Lhe 88C. lor 32 of Lhe onllne survey respondenLs lL
was Lhe reason Lhey had lasL conLacLed Lhe 88C.
AlLhough Lhe same quesLlon was noL asked on Lhe
MC8l survey, Lhere was a quesLlon abouL moLlvaLlons
for conLacLlng Lhe 88C, and 42 sald Lhey had
conLacLed a news organlsaLlon ln response Lo
someLhlng Lhey had heard or seen on Lhe news.

1here ls an anLlpaLhy shared by a number of focus
group parLlclpanLs Lowards Lhe publlcaLlon or broadcasL
of oplnlon-based 'uCC' from people who are noL
dlrecLly affecLed by a sLory and/or have no real
experLlse ln Lhe area covered. 1he unlnformed and
ofLen lnarLlculaLe naLure of much of Lhls user generaLed
commenL ls seen as a de-moLlvaLlng facLor.

Charles: l'm generally noL lncllned Lo do so wlLh
malnsLream news sLorles because l fall Lo see
how l'm quallfled Lo do LhaL. Llke, lf lL's abouL Lhe
budgeL or someLhlng, you know, l'm noL serlously
golng Lo have an lnformed oplnlon abouL LhaL.
AnyLhlng LhaL l say would [usL be no more Lhan
you would geL from a conversaLlon wlLh your
frlends. l don'L see Lhe polnL. [.]99 of Lhe
people who call up or e-mall really don'L add
anyLhlng new Lo Lhe debaLe. 1hey [usL say
someLhlng lncredlbly oplnlonaLed abouL Lhe lssue
wlLhouL saylng how lL affecLs Lhem, and wlLhouL
soundlng Lerrlbly lnformed abouL anyLhlng. [...] l
Lhlnk LhaL maybe Lhe klnd of people who debaLe
on Lhese programmes would proporLlonally be
more llkely Lo be Lhe klnd of people who don'L
reallse LhaL Lhey know f**k-all abouL whaL Lhey're
Lalklng abouL. l [usL Lhlnk LhaL on Lhese Lhlngs lL ls
dlsproporLlonaLely people who are oplnlonaLed
wlLhouL havlng much Lo base Lhelr oplnlons on.
(locus Croup 2)











WlLhln Lhe focus groups, Lhere was dlscusslon abouL
aLLempLlng Lo dlssuade commenLs from unlnformed
conLrlbuLors.

1lm: 1hey consLanLly ask us for our vlews, lL ls as
lf Lhey don'L care who you were or whaL our
speclallsms are ln, Lhey [usL wanL vlews for
Lhe sake of havlng vlews.
uavld: l Lhlnk lL would lmprove Lhlngs lf Lhey
sLopped saylng on 88C news, 'whaLever your
vlews, we wanL Lo hear Lhem' Lo 'lf you know
someLhlng abouL lL or havlng acLually been
dlrecLly affecLed by Lhe evenL Lhen geL ln
conLacL wlLh us'.
1lm: ?eah lL seems llke Lhey don'L care, Lhey [usL
wanL audlence vlews for Lhe sake of lL.
(locus Croup 11)

Cne of Lhe sLrongesL Lhemes Lo emerge from Lhe locus
Croups was Lhe percepLlons of Lhose who dld
conLrlbuLe commenLs and oplnlons. Cne of Lhe
percepLlons ls LhaL people submlL commenLs because
Lhey 'llke Lhe sound of Lhelr own volce'.

Andrew: 8y respondlng Lo Lhese requesLs for
uCC, you are really saylng, 'l Lhlnk l have
someLhlng worLhy Lo say on Lhe Loplc', when
really, mosL of Lhe uCC oplnlons we hear are noL
LhaL greaL - l wouldn'L wanL Lo assoclaLe myself
wlLh Lhose people by dolng Lhe same Lhlng as
Lhem. (locus Croup 12)

Slmllarly focus group parLlclpanLs felL Lhose who dld
conLrlbuLe were publlclLy seekers.

8obby: 1hls ls a falrly cynlcal polnL of vlew, buL l
Lhlnk you could see lL as a blL of a plaLform for
self-promoLlon. ?ou know, llke geL yourself on 1v.
Whlch ls also maybe why lL wouldn'L occur Lo a
loL of people Lo do lL. lf you dld fllm or
phoLograph someLhlng llke Lhls lL would probably
be more of a personal record. Llke you are golng
Lo keep lL for your frlends and famlly Lo show
Lhem, raLher Lhan show lL Lo Lhe enLlre naLlon.
+3)
!"#$%&'((#)
!






Clenda: ?eah, my frlend fancles hlmself as a blL of
an amaLeur phoLographer. Pe would be
Lhe klnd of person LhaL would do Lhls
because he Lhlnks hls plcLures are
amazlng. Pe'd be llke, he'd Lhlnk LhaL
people would wanL Lo see Lhem, and he
would send Lhem ln. l klnd of only
lmaglne LhaL klnd of person dolng lL Lo be
honesL.
Sarah: 1he eyewlLness sLuff ls llke an opporLunlLy
Lo moan, as well. Maybe Lhey feel a blL
more valldaLed, llke people are llsLenlng
Lo Lhem and sLuff. l can see why
somebody would do LhaL. lf you are really
angry abouL someLhlng. ?ou're llke, l'll
send Lhls Lo Lhe 88C and Lhen people wlll
llsLen Lo me. (locus Croup 1)

1o compare Lhese percepLlons wlLh Lhe vlews of Lhose
who do conLrlbuLe, only 21 of Lhose surveyed for Lhe
naLlonally represenLaLlve MC8l survey, lncluded Lhe
response 'because my lnpuL ls lnLeresLlng/useful' as aL
leasL one of Lhe explanaLlons for submlLLlng maLerlal (lL
should be noLed LhaL Lhere may have been an elemenL
of survey blas here wlLh people noL wanLlng Lo appear
self-lmporLanL). 39 of onllne respondenLs sald Lhe
same.

1he value of Lhe Pave ?our Say commenLs ls ouLllned by
eLer Porrocks:

lL obvlously had some beneflL ln lLs own rlghL, Lhe
beneflLs LhaL Lhe user recelves from seelng Lhelr
commenL publlshed, buL far more lmporLanL Lhan
LhaL ls Lhe value ln provldlng some klnd of a way
of allgnlng or assesslng Lhe audlence's vlew of a
sub[ecL and poLenLlally, where approprlaLe
allgnlng our [ournallsm Lo LhaL. l don'L mean
necessarlly maklng lL ldenLlcal buL uslng LhaL as
an lnfluence ln our [ournallsm.

As eLer Porrocks emphaslsed, Lhe fuLure of Lhese
Lypes of debaLes ls currenLly aL an lmporLanL
crossroads.







An lmporLanL quesLlon ls wheLher we are [usL ln
passlve mode ln Lerms of recelvlng lnformaLlon
from web users or wheLher we are more
proacLlve ln Lerms of sollclLlng or seeklng ouL
lnformaLlon.


eLer Porrocks provlded an example of how Lhe
audlence lnfluenced Lhe developmenL of a sLory.

We were dolng a sLory on a reglonal governmenL
crack down on pornographlc lmages. lL was llkely
Lo be a very sLralghLforward, popullsL measure
and l was qulLe sLruck by a sudden klnd of
sLrengLh of response from Lhe audlence saylng,
'Pang on. lL's all slmulaLed vlolence. lL's amongsL
consenLlng adulLs' and so on. 1here's a
reasonable polnL of vlew Lhere and LhaL wasn'L
someLhlng we Look lnLo accounL and we dld
subsequenLly lnclude LhaL ln our plece for Lhe 1en
C'Clock news. So, Lhose qulLe unusual, lnsplrlng
conLrlbuLlons, l Lhlnk can be helpful ln klnd of
broadenlng Lhe edlLorlal perspecLlve.

1he 'uCC' Pub [ournallsLs felL Pave ?our Say was a
poslLlve space for audlence members from across Lhe
world Lo share Lhelr vlews and ldeas. 1he numbers of
people conLrlbuLed Lo Lhe Pub cannoL be lgnored.

Cn a really popular debaLe we wlll geL over
10,000 messages ln Lhe space of one day. 1he
Shllpa SheLLy sLory from CelebrlLy 8lg 8roLher was
one of our blggesL debaLes of Lhe year. 8y Lhe
end of LhaL l Lhlnk we had nearly 30,000
messages, of whlch Lhere were several Lhousand
whlch we never goL Lhrough.

Pave ?our Say clearly acLs as an lmporLanL
newsgaLherlng Lool:

l would lmaglne lf you had publlshed say 1000 messages
on one sLory, you may have perhaps 30
!"#$%&'((#)
)
+*)
!


Lo 100 of Lhem read ouL as messages on varlous
dlfferenL ouLleLs wheLher lL's llve Llve or news
24. Llkewlse, ouL of 1000 messages you may geL
around a couple of dozen case sLudles LhaL could
be used whlch we pass on Lo programmes. So Lhe
ones whlch acLually geL on alr would be perhaps
half of LhaL.

1he way lL allows [ournallsLs Lo access people ln hard Lo
reach counLrles ls also slgnlflcanL.

As a producer when you're Lrylng Lo Lurn a
programme around ln Lhree hours, Lrylng Lo geL a
normal person from Slerra Leone can be
problemaLlc, especlally when Lhe phones are so
dlsasLrously dlfflculL. 1hls way, wlLh a llLLle blL
more Llme, we can see Lhe Lhlng comlng up, we
can geL a posL form up on relaLed sLory and we
have Llme Lo Lalk lL Lhrough wlLh Lhese people
and lf Lhere ls a sLory you can geL some really
good sLuff.

lL also provldes an emoLlonal lmpacL whlch 88C
[ournallsLs couldn'L have prevlously lncluded
Lhemselves.

WlLh some of Lhe blgger sLorles now, lL's useful
for uCC commenLs Lo go ahead of a blg-hlLLlng
pollLlcal lnLervlew. 1he pollLlclan can'L [usL say,
well LhaL's your oplnlon !ohn, buL l Lhlnk x, ?, and
Z. 8uL lf you have Lhe volce of a moLher whose
son has been kllled ln 8asra, or an ex-soldler
who's had a horrlflc experlence ln 8asra and you
ask Lhe same quesLlon of LhaL pollLlclan he has Lo
deal wlLh lL dlfferenLly. And so lL glves an
addlLlonal leglLlmacy Lo quesLlons Lhey may
already wanL Lo ask. So LhaL's always useful as
well.

1here was frusLraLlon expressed abouL how qulckly
dlscusslons could Lurn Lo unrelaLed Loplcs.

MosL of our debaLes are on conLenLlous sub[ecLs.
1haL's why Lhey are debaLes. So Lempers can run







hlgh and lL's easy for people Lo break house rules
and we've goL an obllgaLlon Lhere Lo make sure
Lhose Lhlngs aren'L publlshed.

ulLlmaLely, as eLer Porrocks explalns, Lhere ls a greaL
deal of value Lo be galned from Lhese commenLs, buL
sLraLegles need Lo be devlsed whlch allow LhaL value Lo
be harnessed mosL efflclenLly.

lf we can free up efforL from slmply processlng
large volumes of oplnlon and obLaln exLra
lnvesLmenL, our lnLenLlon wlll be Lo enhance our
efforLs ln geLLlng real [ournallsLlc value ouL of Lhls
maLerlal. lL can clearly wlden our agenda and our
knowledge of whaL ls happenlng. lL can also
enhance Lhe level of experLlse from members of
Lhe publlc LhaL ls presenL ln our [ournallsm and
on our alrwaves. Members of Lhe audlence who
really know whaL Lhey are Lalklng abouL play a
vlLal role ln keeplng our [ournallsm up Lo Lhe
mark.

1echnology ls changlng Lhe volume, ease
and speed of gaLherlng news maLerlal and
sources, buL lL has noL changed Lhe rellance
on LradlLlonal [ournallsm pracLlces

1hls ls a slmple buL slgnlflcanL concluslon. uesplLe 'uCC'
belng descrlbed by some commenLaLors and
pracLlLloners as a revoluLlon ln [ournallsm pracLlce, Lhls
research has demonsLraLed LhaL raLher Lhan changlng
Lhe way mosL [ournallsLs work, Audlence CommenLs,
Audlence ConLenL and Audlence SLorles are flrmly
embedded wlLhln Lhe newsgaLherlng process, and ln
mosL cases are belng used as [usL anoLher [ournallsLlc
source. 'uCC', Lo mosL news [ournallsLs ln Lhe 88C, ls
usually characLerlsed as one source of lnformaLlon Lo be
processed among many. lL ls Lhe raw maLerlal LhaL geLs
Lurned lnLo [ournallsLlc ouLpuL. Cf course, Lechnology
has sped up Lhe process of garnerlng lnformaLlon from
Lhe publlc conslderably. 8uL wheLher lL ls a member of
Lhe audlence emalllng lnformaLlon abouL a breaklng
news sLory, provldlng eye-wlLness fooLage, or
++)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







offerlng commenLs abouL a sLory, Lhese relaLlonshlps
wlLh Lhe audlence have always exlsLed.

MosL 88C [ournallsLs frame Lhelr accounLs of worklng
wlLh uCC ln Lerms of Lhe roles LhaL have always made
up LradlLlonal [ournallsm pracLlce, raLher Lhan as a
radlcally new way of dolng Lhe [ob. lor example, Lhey
frequenLly menLloned Lhe need Lo apply LradlLlonal
[ournallsLlc Lechnlques (l.e. ensurlng auLhenLlclLy,
checklng conLenL, and malnLalnlng lmparLlallLy, eLc)
when uslng maLerlal from Lhe audlence.

1hls emphasls on fosLerlng and preservlng LradlLlonal
[ournallsLlc roles and values was ofLen expressed as a
wlsh Lo acL as a gaLekeeper, ensurlng LhaL non-
professlonal audlence conLenL does noL affecL Lhe
quallLy of news. 1hls wlsh was echoed ln our audlence
research. 37 of Lhe general publlc sald Lhey were ln
favour of maLerlal belng veLLed by [ournallsLs 'ln order
Lo malnLaln Lhe quallLy of Lhe news'. 1he proporLlon of
our onllne survey of 88C webslLe conLrlbuLors was even
hlgher, wlLh 67 of Lhose polled sald Lhey LhoughL
[ournallsLs should acL ln Lhls 'quallLy-conLrol' role.

'uCC' ls ofLen characLerlsed as a democraLlslng force,
allowlng Lhe audlence Lo have an lnpuL ln news
producLlon whlch erodes Lhe LradlLlonal dlsLlncLlons
beLween producers and consumers of Lhe news. 1hls
research, however, suggesLs LhaL ln Lhe conLexL of Lhe
88C Lhe pool of conLrlbuLors ls sLlll small, and Lhere are
slgnlflcanL barrlers (Lechnologlcal, soclo-economlc, eLc)
whlch mlghL prevenL 'uCC' from ever becomlng a Lruly
lncluslve phenomenon.

1here are cerLaln Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal
(CollaboraLlve ConLenL and neLworked !ournallsm)
whlch have Lhe poLenLlal Lo slgnlflcanLly revoluLlonlse
[ournallsm. ln some secLors of Lhe conLemporary
medlasphere (blogglng, soclal neLworklng, and oLher
soclal medla) lL ls noL an exaggeraLlon Lo Lalk of Lhe
publlc as 'Lhe people formerly known as Lhe audlence',
(as one soclal neLworklng enLhuslasL aL Lhe 88C referred








Lo Lhe audlence). 1he poLenLlal of such a
democraLlsaLlon of Lhe medla needs Lo be champloned,
and Lhese formaLs need Lo be furLher harnessed by Lhe
88C .

1hls process has already begun, and Lhe 88C ls plannlng
Lo embrace such soclal medla. lor lnsLance ln Lhe
summer of 2008 lL publlshed an lnLernal 'Soclal
Medla SLraLegy' looklng lnLo Lhe furLher poLenLlal of [usL
such developmenLs. AL Lhe momenL, Lhough, for mosL
news [ournallsLs Lhere has been no radlcal upheaval ln
Lhe way Lhey work, and no greaL change ln Lhe
sLrucLural roles played by LradlLlonal producers and
consumers of Lhe news.




















!"#$%&'((#)
+,)
!







Audlence MaLerlal fulflls 6 roles wlLhln Lhe 88C

1. llndlng !"#$%$&'()"$%(wlLhln exlsLlng agenda, e.g. looklng for case sLudles and
sources)
2. CeneraLlng !"#$%$*&(+"$% from Llp offs (breaklng news fooLage, new sLory ldeas)
3. rovldlng space for ,'-.+)%/+$)'$$+&!%0!/%/"-0*"
4. SLrengLhenlng Lhe (".0*+&!$1+,%#+*1%*1"%0'/+"!)"%
3. llndlng maLerlal for !&!2!"#$
34
% segmenLs
6. 5'/+"!)"%"6,&#"(6"!* and sklll developmenL

1he followlng Lable demonsLraLes Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween Lhe dlfferenL Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal and Lhe roles
Lhey play. lL shows Lhe currenL role each Lype of Audlence MaLerlal ls playlng, buL lL also suggesLs how, lf used
dlfferenLly, some Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal could provlde Lhe 88C wlLh dlfferenL beneflLs.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
16
We lmply no value [udgmenL aLLached Lo Lhe Lerm 'non-news', buL ls belng used Lo dlfferenLlaLe beLween phoLographs noL
relaLed Lo any news evenL (for example famlly peLs, Lhe weaLher eLc) and phoLographs wlLh a speclflc news focus (for example
eye wlLness phoLographs of breaklng news sLorles).!
+-)
!"#$%&'((#)
!

Aud|ence Mater|a| ko|es
cotteot kole kole lt
coolJ be
ployloq
kole lt ls beloq petcelveJ os ployloq kole lt sboolJot be oseJ fot
A
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)

AoJleoce News lootoqe news sLorles

AoJleoce News 5totles news sLorles

collobototlve cooteot Audlence
empowermenL & sklll
developmenL
news
sLorles

SLrengLhenlng
relaLlonshlp wlLh
audlence
news
sources

non-news conLenL

AoJleoce xpetleoce Pard news sources

Noo-oews AoJleoce
cooteot
non-news conLenL

AoJleoce commeot rovldlng space for
publlc dlscusslon and
debaLe
SLrengLhenlng relaLlonshlp wlLh
audlence (bot commeots wblcb ote
oot boseJ oo Jltect expetleoce ote oot
vety popolot wltb ooJleoces becoose
of coocetos oboot self-selectloo)
lndlcaLor of audlence oplnlon ( tbls ls
loopptoptlote becoose of tbe level of self-
selectloo ooJ Jemoqtopblc moke-op of
coottlbotots)
news sources (ttowlloq tbtooqb
emolls ooJ texts fot posslble sootces ls
ttemeoJoosly tesootce loteoslve)

NetwotkeJ jootoollsm SLrengLhenlng
relaLlonshlp wlLh
audlence

rovldlng space for
publlc dlscusslon and
debaLe

!

naLlons and 8eglons have many excellenL
examples of good pracLlce buL noL everyone
ls aware of Lhese aL neLwork level

1here are excellenL examples of good pracLlce Laklng
place, boLh ln Lerms of CollaboraLlve ConLenL and
Audlence news SLorles. newsrooms ln Lhe naLlons and
8eglons, ofLen by necesslLy, already have sLrong
relaLlonshlps wlLh Lhelr audlence when lL comes Lo
LradlLlonal 'uCC' formaLs such as radlo phone-lns. 8uL
durlng Lhe research several examples of more
lnnovaLlve pracLlce were encounLered, especlally ln
Lerms of conLenL producLlon, whlch lnvolve [ournallsLs
collaboraLlng wlLh Lhe publlc ln ways whlch exLend
beyond baslc newsgaLherlng. 1here are a slgnlflcanL
number of noLeworLhy and lnnovaLlve uses of
collaboraLlve/parLlclpaLory 'uCC' ln Lhe naLlons and
8eglons LhaL should be celebraLed and encouraged.

lL ls lmporLanL Lo acknowledge LhaL Lhere are cross
organlsaLlonal sLraLegles relaLlng Lo 'uCC' whlch
poslLlon audlence-faclng campalgns for evenLs such as
SprlngwaLch aL a reglonal level, ln order Lo Lake
advanLage of closer relaLlonshlps wlLh audlences. 1here
are also a number of examples of good pracLlce ln
reglonal newsrooms LhaL noL everyone ls aware of aL
Lhe neLwork level. Many of Lhese could be repllcaLed
across Lhe organlsaLlon. We belleve lL ls lmporLanL LhaL
88C news execuLlves do noL overlook Lhe valuable
resources LhaL exlsL ln Lhe naLlons and 8eglons, boLh ln
Lerms of exlsLlng and prevlously exlsLlng pro[ecLs LhaL
mlghL be used as models of good pracLlce for fuLure
naLlonal lnlLlaLlves, and Lhe experlence of sLaff who
have worked on successful parLlclpaLory [ournallsm
pro[ecLs for a number of years already.

Some examples we encounLered ln newsrooms across
Lhe counLry lnclude: Audlence 1eam !ournallsLs
gaLherlng and ellclLlng uCC ln hard-Lo-reach areas on
communlLy buses and Lhrough Lhe use of open cenLres,
Lelevlslon [ournallsLs aL 88C uevon lssulng members of
Lhe publlc affecLed by news sLorles wlLh vldeo cameras
Lo shooL Lhelr own vldeo dlarles, radlo [ournallsLs ln
?orkshlre uslng a comparable formaL Lo creaLe audlo








dlarles uslng Lhe L-10 audlo recorder, CSv AcLlon
roducers aL 8adlo Sheffleld ellclLlng uCC from people
affecLed by Lhe 2007 summer floods aL Lhe same Llme
as Lhey organlsed Lhe rellef efforL Lo help flooded
resldenLs, and 88C lnLerneL [ournallsLs worklng on
dedlcaLed 'uCC' pro[ecLs such as Leachlng young people
how Lo shooL and edlL Lhelr own news packages on
moblle phones, and faclllLaLlng Lhelr broadcasL on 88C
Local web spaces.

ln Lhls secLlon of Lhe reporL we ouLllne ln deLall some
examples of good pracLlce observed durlng our
research aL 88C Wales. We cannoL provlde an
exhausLlve llsL of all of Lhe parLlclpaLory medla pro[ecLs
from 88C newsrooms ln Lhe uk, 1haL would be
lmposslble based on daLa gaLhered from such a small
selecLlon of newsrooms. Powever, our llsL does suggesL
numerous and dlverse lnsLances of audlence
parLlclpaLlon whlch can lead Lo Lhe mlnlmlsaLlon of
whaL some 88C news edlLors refer Lo as 'alr-
condlLloned [ournallsm', and an lncrease ln Lhe
producLlon of conLenL ln whlch, Lo dlfferenL degrees,
edlLorlal conLrol over conLenL-producLlon ls ceded Lo
members of Lhe publlc.

88c woles 1oJoy - oot 5totles
Cne lnLeresLlng lnsLance from our conLenL analysls was
broadcasL by 88C Wales on woles 1oJoy ln lebruary
2008. Cn Monday 11
Lh
lebruary, Lhe programme, as
parL of Lhelr permanenL '?our SLorles' secLlon on Lhe
programme whlch appears aL Lhe end of Lhe broadcasL,
explalned LhaL Lhey had recelved a call from a vlewer ln
rural mld-Wales complalnlng abouL Lhe lack of
8roadband provlslon ln hls vlllage. 1he presenLers asked
vlewers Lo conLacL Lhem lf Lhey were sufferlng wlLh
slmllar problems. Cn 1uesday's programme, Lhe
presenLers explalned how many calls Lhey had recelved
and Lhere was a 3 mlnuLe package from Lwo locaLlons,
and a speclal feaLure afLer Lhe package where more
commenLs were read ouL. Cn Wednesday, Lhe
programme had an lnLervlew wlLh CfCom Wales and an
Assembly MlnlsLer. Cn 1hursday, Lhe programme
broadcasL a 7 mlnuLe segmenL abouL how oLher vlewers
had solved Lhelr 8roadband problem Lhrough
lnnovaLlve uses of Lechnology.
+/)
!"#$%&'((#)
!








1here are many elemenLs of Lhls sLory LhaL are poslLlve
from an audlence perspecLlve: a) Lhe facL LhaL Lhls sLory
orlglnaLed from an audlence suggesLlon, b) Lhe facL LhaL
lL was glven such promlnence and had so many
resources dedlcaLed Lo Lhe sLory and c) Lhe facL LhaL Lhe
pro[ecLlon of Lhe sLory lnvolved aLLempLlng Lo flnd
soluLlons Lo Lhe problem. A slgnlflcanL facLor ln Lhe
success of Lhls parLlcular example could be Lhe sLrong
llnks Lhe 88C Wales 1oday programme has wlLh lLs
audlence, Lhrough Lhe facL LhaL '?our SLorles' has been
embedded ln Lhe nlghLly broadcasL.

88C Wales' 'Pere lor ?ou' ro[ecL

AspecLs of Lhls pro[ecL loosely resemble Lhe 'publlc
[ournallsm' mode of communlLy-engaged news
reporLlng whlch emphaslse Lhe lmporLance of clvlc
lnvolvemenL ln Lhe [ournallsLlc process based on
dlscusslons and consulLaLlon beLween [ournallsLs and
Lhe audlences Lhey serve.

1he purpose of Lhe pro[ecL, accordlng Lo Cwenda
8lchards, CommunlLles LdlLor aL 88C Wales, was Lo 'Lo
geL closer Lo Lhe audlences, Lo open doors Lo Lhe 88C
and Lo make volces of ordlnary people heard'.

We seL up an advlsory board made up of people
from Lhe communlLy who represenL dlfferenL
areas, and lnLeresLs, and Lhey run Lhe meeLlngs.
lL's as much Lhelr meeLlng wlLh us as lL ls us
drlvlng lL. 1hey'll polnL us ln a dlrecLlon ln Lerms
of whaL sLorles, whaL lssues are comlng up, whaL
Lhelr grudges are, and whaL klnd of Lhlngs Lhey'd
llke Lo see Lhe 88C do.

1he process ls noL slmply one-way, wlLh members of
Lhe publlc feedlng ldeas Lo Lhe [ournallsLs, however. A
loL of work ls also done educaLlng and lnformlng Lhe
publlc abouL whaL klnds of sLorles and maLerlal would
be useful Lo dlfferenL secLors and deparLmenLs wlLhln
88C Wales. A Lwo-way consulLaLlon process ls lnsLlLuLed
LhaL lnvolves Lrue collaboraLlon beLween 88C [ournallsLs
and Lhe audlence.









ulglLal SLoryLelllng


CapLure Wales was an lnLervenLlonlsL medla pro[ecL
whlch almed Lo promoLe dlglLal llLeracy and self-
expresslon, and whlch was commlLLed Lo Lhe ldea LhaL
creaLlve conLrol over each mulLlmedla dlglLal sLory
should be reLalned by Lhe lndlvldual member of Lhe
publlc. lnLervenLlon and lnsLrucLlon from Lralned
[ournallsLs was llmlLed Lo skllful llghL-Louch faclllLaLlon
meLhods ln lnLenslve workshops usually lasLlng one
week, and ofLen based ln hard-Lo-reach areas wlLh hlgh
levels of soclal and economlc deprlvaLlon.

1he success of Lhls 'uCC' venLure ls well documenLed,
and whlle lL ls noL a speclflcally news-orlenLed pro[ecL,
dlglLal sLorles have been lncorporaLed lnLo news and
currenL affalrs ouLpuL ln a number of dlfferenL ways.
We also feel LhaL wlLh some adapLaLlon, and afLer
careful conslderaLlon, aspecLs of Lhe dlglLal sLoryLelllng
model could be used Lo encourage audlence members
Lo produce more expllclLly news and currenL affalrs-
relaLed maLerlal wlLhln Lhe conLexL of speclflcally
deslgned lnlLlaLlves.

1he advanLages of such a model would be plenLlful, buL
Lhe maln ones lnclude:
1) lL could allow Lhe 88C Lo counLer Lhe poLenLlal
crlLlclsm LhaL Lhe way lL vlews news-relaLed
'uCC' ls cenLred Loo much around whaL lL can
geL from Lhe publlc (ln Lerms of news gaLherlng)
raLher Lhan allowlng Lhe audlence Lo become
Lruly lnvolved ln lnfluenclng Lhe conLenL of
news and currenL affalrs ouLpuL ln lnnovaLlve
and creaLlve ways,
2) lL would provlde Lhe opporLunlLy Lo work wlLh
Lhe publlc ln Lhe creaLlon of news sLorles and ln
Lhe process lmparL and spread knowledge
abouL Lhe professlonal and Lechnlcal skllls
needed Lo produce news maLerlal,
3) lf done wlLh such an ouLcome ln mlnd, such
pro[ecLs enable Lhe dlssemlnaLlon of [ournallsLlc
skllls among Lhe general publlc, leadlng Lo
!"#$%&'((#)
+0)
!

4) hlgher-quallLy lndependenL submlsslons of
'uCC' ln Lhe fuLure, and
3) llnally, such LargeLed ouLreach lnlLlaLlves could
offer a Lrue ls a Lrue publlc-servlce, by ensurlng
LhaL soclal groups who do noL Lake parL ln Lhe
'uCC conversaLlon' as much as oLhers can be
represenLed (Lhe elderly, Lhe worklng class,
Lhose who are noL already soclally or pollLlcally
acLlve, eLc).

As sLaLed earller, Lhere ls some reslsLance Lo such
collaboraLlve pro[ecLs, buL a poLenLlal cause of Lhls ls
Lhe use of Lhe Lerm 'uCC' whlch has become a caLch-all
deflnlLlon for any maLerlal elLher dlrecLly or lndlrecLly
produced by Lhe audlence.

1he Lerm ls muddylng Lhe waLers, wlLh Lhe same Lerm
belng used Lo descrlbe commenLs lefL on Lhe Pave your
Say webslLe and dlrecL communlLy ouLreach pro[ecLs,
Lypes of lnLeracLlon whlch clearly serve a number of
dlfferenL purposes. As one senlor producer argued,

l Lhlnk lL would be very narrow-mlnded lf we only
saw user generaLed conLenL as a way of
supporLlng our news agenda. 1haL's my personal
vlew as Lhere are so many oLher rlch sources ouL
Lhere.

1hey conLlnued:

1he Lhlng LhaL l really love abouL vldeo naLlon
and ulglLal SLoryLelllng ls Lhe surprlse elemenL. So
you're noL Lelllng someone, 'Co ouL and flnd a
sLory abouL Lhe closlng of Lhe local prlmary
school.' ?ou're acLually uncoverlng llLLle gllmpses
lnLo Lhe hlsLory and currenL culLure of a
communlLy. lL's ofLen really surprlslng. no
[ournallsL would ever reporL or ask Lhe quesLlon
because we wouldn'L have known LhaL lL was
Lhere ln Lhe flrsL place.

1he beneflLs of communlLy ouLreach are numerous:
engaglng and galnlng Lhe LrusL of communlLles who are
noL LradlLlonal 88C audlences, bulldlng Lhe confldence
and empowerlng lndlvldual audlence members Lhrough








skllls Lralnlng, and produclng hlghly personallsed,
emoLlve maLerlal whlch can be broadcasL or publlshed.
As someone lnvolved heavlly wlLh vldeo naLlon argued,
deLermlned ouLreach lnlLlaLlves are Lhe mosL powerful
Lools for persuadlng cerLaln communlLles Lo engage
wlLh Lhe 88C.

WhaL we do wlLh vldeo naLlon speclflcally, ls Lo
go ouL and do pro[ecLs wlLh parLs of Lhe
communlLy LhaL aren'L Lhe audlence, or aL leasL
may noL be Lhe audlence. 1hey wouldn'L be Lhe
people who would normally plck up Lhe keyboard
and send an emall. As a resulL Lhelr communlLles
are noL very much heard from.

1he cosL lssues assoclaLed wlLh collaboraLlve [ournallsm
of Lhls naLure are undoubLedly a large barrler Lo more
wldespread lmplemenLaLlon of slmllar medla ouLreach
pro[ecLs. An AP8C/88C-funded knowledge exchange
research programme ls currenLly underway looklng aL
how Lhe dlglLal sLoryLelllng form wlll develop, and one
of lLs areas of lnLeresL ls how lL can be made less
resource-lnLenslve. Cne way of keeplng Lhe cosLs
lncurred by such pro[ecLs Lo a mlnlmum mlghL be Lo
work ln parLnershlp wlLh exlsLlng grass-rooLs
communlLy medla, and oLher organlsaLlons. 1he plloL
2006 88C local Lelevlslon pro[ecL ln Lhe WesL Mldlands,
for example, worked wlLh local lL and PL medla
educaLlon deparLmenLs and communlLy medla groups
such as Lhe 8ural Medla Company ln order Lo flnd
audlence conLenL Lo alr ln lLs news bulleLlns.

CommunlLy 8eporLers

88C 8adlo Wales has a neLwork of 31 CommunlLy
8eporLers, largely unLralned members of Lhe publlc,
who record raw audlo fooLage LhaL geLs edlLed LogeLher
lnLo packages by a CommunlLy 1eam responslble for
worklng wlLh Lhem. 1hese packages are Lhen broadcasL
on a number of dlfferenL ouLleLs across Lhe sLaLlon,
lncludlng Lhe hlgh-proflle mornlng show wlLh !amle
Cwen and Lhe afLernoon magazlne show wlLh 8oy
noble. lL ls also common for communlLy reporLers Lo
wrlLe sLorles for Lhe Welsh 88C Local slLes.
+1)
ugc[Lhebbc
!







1he communlLy reporLers recelve baslc Lralnlng ln Lhe
use of recordlng equlpmenL, Lhe vocabulary and
convenLlons of radlo producLlon, and some Llps on how
and whaL Lo record Lo make a good radlo plece, buL a
loL of Lhe learnlng ls lnducLlve, and geLs carrled ouL on
Lhe [ob.

1he reporLers Lhemselves are moLlvaLed by a deslre Lo
lnfluence local news provlslon. As one explalned:

ln Lerms of moLlvaLlon, l've always loved radlo, l
do love radlo, and you do flnd yourself llsLenlng
Lo Lhlngs and Lhlnklng, how borlng ls LhaL? l can
Lhlnk of a loL more lnLeresLlng Lhlngs Lo puL on
Lhe radlo LhaL maLLer. And of course l'd beLLer
puL my money where my mouLh ls, as lL were.
l'm also qulLe dedlcaLed Lo my local area really. l
llve Lhere, lL's my vlllage. ?ou know? l llve Lhere,
and l en[oyed lL, and love llvlng Lhere. And lL's
been a chance Lo geL some poslLlve Lhlngs on Lhe
radlo abouL my area, so Lhere was qulLe a selflsh
lnLeresL ln LhaL sense. And Lhe flnal Lhlng ls lL's a
greaL excuse Lo go and Lalk Lo lnLeresLlng people.

AL presenL Lhe reporLers do noL usually reporL on 'hard
news', and are lnsLead encouraged Lo cover human-
and communlLy-lnLeresL sLorles. Clven adequaLe
supervlslon and collaboraLlon, however, Lhere ls no
reason why such a model would noL work ln Lhe
provlslon of hard news.


'ln Lhe lrame'

'ln Lhe lrame' ls a mulLlmedla ouLreach pro[ecL run by
88C Wales LhaL has worked wlLh a number of dlfferenL
'hard Lo reach' groups who would noL normally submlL
conLenL Lo Lhe 88C. 1he growlng llsL of parLlclpanLs so
far lncludes 1raveller Chlldren ln newporL, groups of
young 'sLreeL' chlldren across Lhe SouLh Wales valleys,
young Welsh homeless people, and elderly aLLendees of
Lhe unlverslLy of Lhe 1hlrd Age ln 8rldgend.







Cne of Lhe [ournallsLs who has worked on 'ln Lhe lrame'
explalned:

lL's abouL glvlng people a meLhod by uslng new
Lechnology Lo be able Lo express Lhemselves. lL's
abouL uslng Lhelr own phoLography and mlxlng lL
wlLh Lhelr own volces lnLo a shorL fllm, buL wlLh
Lhem ln conLrol. And lL's volces you don'L usually
geL ln Lhe medla Lalklng ln Lhelr own words. lL's
an acLlve efforL Lo Lry and geL more volces lnLo
Lhe medla LhaL maybe never would have
oLherwlse been Lhere.

WhllsL self-expresslon and self-empowermenL ls an
lmporLanL aspecL of Lhe process, Lhere ls also human
lnLeresL news value Lo many of Lhe pleces recorded.

?ou geL a fresh slanL on llfe as well. WlLh 'ln Lhe
lrame' l was Lold Lo Lry and do someLhlng before
Lhe elecLlons wlLh a group of young people.
8aLher Lhan glvlng Lhem Lhemes l gave Lhem a
Lask. 1he Lask was, 'lf you had Lhe power and you
were an AM [Welsh Assembly Member] whaL
would you do, whaL would you change ln your
area lf you could change one Lhlng?' 1haL pro[ecL
was qulLe lnLeresLlng because lL dld lnvolve a
news Loplc. 1hen Lhe news Look lL up and goL Lhe
Assembly Member Lo go Lo a school LhaL had
been crlLlclsed by one of Lhe young people.

1he key Lo maklng Lhese klnds of collaboraLlve
communlLy ouLreach pro[ecLs successful ls Lo
demonsLraLe Lhe ways ln whlch Lhey overlap wlLh
LradlLlonal forms of [ournallsm, and conLrlbuLe
slgnlflcanLly ln Lerms of medla llLeracy and audlence
Lralnlng. As 8lchard Sambrook argues ln anoLher
conLexL:

When you're enabllng people and glvlng Lhem
Lhe skllls and Lhe Lechnology and Lhe medla
llLeracy Lo be able Lo conLrlbuLe Lo Lhe vasL
medlum ln some way, LhaL's where Lhe overlap
wlLh [ournallsm lles. 1haL's where one can
supporL Lhe oLher.
!"#$%&'((#)
+2)
!

1hose [ournallsLs who work dlrecLly wlLh Lhe
communlLy Lo produce maLerlal are enLlrely
enLhuslasLlc abouL, and very proud of, Lhe quallLy of
Lhe ouLpuL. As more of Lhese lnlLlaLlves are
encouraged (perhaps ln Lhe conLexL of 88C Local's
proposed fuLure focus on uCC) more [ournallsLs may
be encouraged by Lhe resulLs. As Pugh 8erlyn
explalned,

uurlng Lhe local 1v plloL we ran aL Lhe WesL
Mldlands a couple of monLhs ago, we were
acLlvely encouraglng schools and organlsaLlons
and communlLles Lo creaLe maLerlals of Lhelr own
and a loL of lL was exLraordlnarlly good. Some of
lL was excellenL. Some of lL, by Lhe naLure of
'uCC', was raLher a blL rough around Lhe edges
buL LhaL acLually, ln some ways, made lL more
charmlng.

Cverall Lhere ls supporL from Lhe audlence
for Lhe ways ln whlch Lhe 88C has been
uslng Audlence MaLerlal

Accordlng Lo our MC8l survey, whlch was naLlonally
represenLaLlve buL dld noL ask speclflcally abouL Lhe
88C, and Lhe onllne survey on Lhe 88C webslLe whlch
wasn'L represenLaLlve buL capLured daLa on Lhose
audlence members who do submlL maLerlal Lo Lhe 88C,
Lhere ls poslLlve feellng abouL Lhe ways ln whlch
Audlence MaLerlal ls belng used. 1he followlng Lable
shows Lhe responses for each quesLlon. 1he
percenLages are Lhe LoLal number of people who
responded LhaL Lhey agreed or sLrongly agreed wlLh Lhe
sLaLemenLs.







)
!












MCkI 88C on||ne
survey
It |s a good th|ng that news
organ|sat|ons are us|ng mater|a|
sent |n by the pub||c now more
than they used to
72 88

News mater|a| produced by
profess|ona| [ourna||sts |s more
trustworthy than mater|a| sent
|n by the pub||c
SS 3S

It |s good for the pub||c to be
|nvo|ved w|th produc|ng the
news rather than |eav|ng |t to
the [ourna||sts
61 74

Mater|a| sent |n by the pub||c
shou|d a|ways be vetted by
[ourna||sts |n order to ma|nta|n
the qua||ty of the news
S6 67

arLlcularly noLeworLhy ls Lhe lssue of LrusL wlLh Lhose
who dld submlL clearly feellng less LrusLlng of Lhe
maLerlal produced by [ournallsLs. lL ls dlfflculL Lo gauge,
parLlcularly wlLh Lhe onllne survey, wheLher Lhose
audlence members are moLlvaLed by a bellef LhaL 88C
[ournallsLs are noL LrusLworLhy (alLhough Lhe survey dld
noL sLlpulaLe 88C [ournallsLs ln parLlcular) or because
Lhey are [usLlfylng Lhelr own engagemenL.

Also noLeworLhy ls Lhe clear supporL for [ournallsLs
veLLlng maLerlal, parLlcularly from people who submlL
Lo Lhe 88C. More so Lhan Lhe general publlc, Lhey wanL
Lhelr maLerlal veLLed and checked. 1hls clearly supporLs
Lhe 88C model of 'uCC' where moderaLlon and a sLrong
'gaLekeeper' role relaLlng Lo quallLy- and auLhenLlclLy-
conLrol ls cenLral Lo Lhe way lL has been used so far.

1here ls also some supporL for 88C onllne forums, from
people who aren'L users, buL who belleve provldlng a
space for dlscusslon and debaLe should be parL of Lhe
remlL of Lhe 88C.
,3)
ugc[Lhebbc
!








uave, a young sLudenL from locus Croup 1 also
applauded Lhe democraLlc lmpulse behlnd Lhe slLe's
exlsLence:

uave: l Lhlnk lL's good LhaL wheLher you're Lhe
Cueen, or wheLher you're a sLudenL, you've goL
Lhe same opporLunlLy Lo puL your oplnlon ouL
Lhere. And lL's noL [usL llke Lhe sLudlo where Lhey
only have hlgh proflle people. 1hls ls your
opporLunlLy, no maLLer who you are, Lo geL your
oplnlon ouL Lhere, and Lo geL Lo become parL of lL
lf you llke. (locus Croup 1)

1hese vlews were a mlnorlLy of Lhose expressed by Lhe
focus group parLlclpanLs. 1he ma[orlLy expressed
negaLlve oplnlons abouL Pave ?our Say:

1lm: See, l don'L go Lo Lhe news Lo wrlLe my
oplnlon, l go Lo Lhe news Lo flnd ouL whaL ls golng
on ln Lhe world, buL maybe l am [usL seL ln my
ways and l haven'L been broughL up on blogglng
and all LhaL sLuff. l see 88C news llke an onllne
newspaper LhaL ls updaLed qulcker. l may Lalk Lo
my frlends abouL whaL l read, buL l sLlll won'L
wrlLe on a wall abouL lL. l don'L Lhlnk LhaL !oe
8logs' oplnlons add anyLhlng Lo arLlcles. (locus
Croup 11).

ulck: l do flnd LhaL Lhey Pave ?our Say, Lhe blg
Lhlng. you musL geL losL ln lL. Pow can you
navlgaLe around LhaL? Pow do you pull anyLhlng
ouL of LhaL? lL's [usL Loo much. [.] 1here's Lhls
Lhlng LhaL goes someLhlng llke, because lL's on
Lhe lnLerneL you have Lo have lL. 8ecause LhaL's
whaL people expecL from Lhe lnLerneL. 1haL's
whaL you do wlLh Lhe lnLerneL. So l Lhlnk Lhe 88C
had Lo have lL, buL Lhey dldn'L have Lo manage lL
Lhls klnd of way. 1he scale of lL makes lL klnd of
polnLless, for me. (locus Croup 7).
)
)

Maggle: l really don'L see [Lhe polnL of Pave ?our
Say]. uon'L you feel LhaL we pay our llcence fee,
and we don'L use Lhls. l don'L wanL Lo. lL's a cosL
lssue. lf you buy a paper you pay your own
money and you geL your own paper, and you







read lL. l pay my llcence fee and l'm noL sure LhaL
l wanL Lo be paylng for Lhls servlce. [...] l don'L
have Lo buy a paper, buL l have Lo buy a Lelevlslon
llcence. l have Lo buy a Lelevlslon llcence and l
don'L wanL my money golng lnLo someLhlng llke
Lhls whlch l don'L use, and l don'L wanL Lo use.
(locus Croup 10).

negaLlve commenLs abouL Pave ?our Say ranged ln
Loplc: some focus group parLlclpanLs expressed surprlse
LhaL anyone would feel moLlvaLed Lo commenL, oLhers
felL Lhe slLe requlred Loo much Lechnologlcal know-how
Lo navlgaLe, and oLhers were dlsappolnLed Lhere wasn'L
any real-world end producL. Many also held negaLlve
percepLlons abouL Lhose who dld conLrlbuLe and dld noL
wanL Lo be assoclaLed wlLh LhaL group of people (see
p.39)
Speclflc calls Lo acLlon are mosL useful for
news gaLherlng, and when ellclLlng hlgh-
quallLy relevanL commenL

Audlences felL LhaL Lhey were asked for maLerlal Loo
ofLen. 1hls was supporLed by Lhe ConLenL Analysls
whlch showed how frequenLly requesLs for maLerlal are
belng made, and how Lhey Lend Lo be general requesLs
raLher Lhan speclflc or dlrecLed calls Lo acLlon. Cf Lhe
91 requesLs monlLored ln Lhe week of conLenL analysls,
36 asked for general commenLs, 12 were for sLory
suggesLlons, 14 were for quesLlons for guesLs and 10
were for phoLographs. ulrecLed requesLs happen mosL
frequenLly as posL-forms aL Lhe end of onllne sLorles.
!ournallsLs frequenLly dlscussed wlLh us how successful
Lhese dlrecLed requesLs could be, buL emphaslsed Lhe
needs Lo make speclflc calls Lo acLlon.

Many [ournallsLs emphaslsed how speclflc calls Lo
acLlon needed Lo be ln order Lo obLaln usable maLerlal.

Cenerally a posL form ls very, very good aL geLLlng
LargeLed case sLudles. MosL people wlll Lell you
LhaL. Lven someLlmes on qulLe obscure sub[ecLs.
Lvery day lL's used well. 8arely a day goes by
when a posL does noL glve us a very good lead.
!"#$%&'((#)
,*)
!

lnLervlews wlLh senlor edlLors and execuLlves
demonsLraLed very clearly how managlng large volumes
of 'uCC', much of lL of llLLle edlLorlal value, ls a
slgnlflcanL concern for Lhe organlsaLlon.

8lchard Sambrook conslders volume Lo be one of
Lhe key dlsadvanLages of 'uCC'.

Cn a blg sLory, an organlzaLlon llke Lhe 88C geLs
swamped and you slmply know Lhere may be
Lhlngs you may be mlsslng. And lL Lakes a huge
amounL of Llme and resources Lo handle whaL
comes ln. And Lhere's a real resource lssue
around LhaL.

SLeve Perrmann: l Lhlnk we're sLlll developlng our
sLraLegles abouL [managlng volume]. Some of lL ls
abouL Lechnology. 1he ablllLy Lo slfL Lhrough
Lhlngs and publlsh Lhem qulckly, and presenL
Lhem ln lnLeresLlng, engaglng ways... because lL's
also an lssue... slmply abouL quanLlLy... lf you geL
13 Lhousand emalls a day abouL someLhlng, even
lf you can publlsh Lhem all lnsLanLaneously,
Lhere's a secondary quesLlon abouL Lhe edlLorlal
value of 13 Lhousand Lhlngs whaLever Lhey are.
Pow can Lhe audlence flnd Lhe value. So whaL
you're dolng ls an edlLorlal funcLlon Lo help Lhe
audlence flnd Lhe besL Lhlngs. 1here are
Lechnologlcal soluLlons LhaL we are looklng aL
whlch people across Lhe web are worklng on
around audlence recommendaLlon and Lagglng
where Lhe audlence helps us Lo work our way
Lhrough Lhose quanLlLles. And LhaL's someLhlng
we're already dolng and we'd llke Lo reflne.

Cnly a small, selecL group of people submlL
Audlence MaLerlal

23 of Lhe 8rlLlsh publlc has senL ln maLerlal Lo a news
organlsaLlon. 17 sLaLed Lhey had senL maLerlal Lo a
newspaper, 9 Lo a radlo programme dlscusslng news
and currenL affalrs, 7 Lo a 1v programme dlscusslng
news and currenL affalrs and [usL 4 Lo a dedlcaLed
news webslLe.








Also, whlle lL ls Lrue LhaL Lhe Pave ?our Say slLe recelves
Lhousands of commenLs, lL ls lmporLanL Lo remember
Lhey are largely from a llmlLed sub-secLlon of socleLy.

1he lpsos MC8l survey demonsLraLed LhaL Lhe Lyplcal
proflle of a conLrlbuLor Lo any news organlsaLlon ls:
whlLe (97), male (34), beLween 33 and 39 (31)
employed full-Llme (34), and a non-manual worker
(36).

1he Lyplcal proflle of a conLrlbuLor Lo Lhe 88C vla Lhe
webslLe ls: male (67) beLween 43 and 34 (24),
employed full Llme (49), as a mlddle-manager or
professlonal (23).

88C [ournallsLs were ofLen candld abouL Lhelr lgnorance
of Lhe Lype of people who conLrlbuLe maLerlal (many
clLlng lack of research on Lhe Loplc). Many [ournallsLs
felL confldenL LhaL Lhose who wrlLe ln are dlverse and
represenLed Lhelr audlence, buL when prompLed Lo
explaln why Lhey couldn'L produce any hard evldence Lo
supporL Lhls hunch.

1here was a general feellng however LhaL Lhe numbers
of people submlLLlng were growlng exponenLlally and
would conLlnue Lo do so. 1hls was expressed aL all
levels of Lhe organlsaLlon. Cur quallLaLlve research
suggesLs, however, LhaL Lhere are slgnlflcanL barrlers Lo
parLlclpaLlon ln Lerms of access Lo Lechnology and
soclo-economlc facLors (see p.36). (lnLeresLlngly, our
survey daLa dld noL lndlcaLe Lhese as slgnlflcanL facLors
wlLh only 3 surveyed clLlng cosL as a dlslncenLlve, and
3 sLaLlng Lhey 'dldn'L know how'. Soclal deslrablllLy
probably played a parL here wlLh people noL wanLlng Lo
admlL cosL or lgnorance was prevenLlng Lhem from
parLlclpaLlng).




,+)
!"#$%&'((#)
!








locus group parLlclpanLs had sLrong negaLlve
percepLlons abouL Lhe klnd of people who
conLrlbuLe, and mosL parLlclpanLs also admlLLed LhaL
conLrlbuLlng 'uCC' would noL be someLhlng Lhey
would conslder. 1he MC8l survey also demonsLraLed
LhaL 22 of respondenLs sLaLed Lhey had a 'lack of
lnLeresL ln conLrlbuLlng', 18 sald 'Lhey couldn'L be
'boLhered', 12 sald Lhey 'dldn'L have Llme' and 9
sald 'Lhey dldn'L have anyLhlng lnLeresLlng Lo say'.
(8espondenLs were allowed mulLlple responses).

As one 88C [ournallsL noLed, Lhere ls perhaps only a
llmlLed number of people who could ever poLenLlally
be a conLrlbuLor of maLerlal.

MosL people have someLhlng lnLeresLlng Lo say.
1hey mlghL noL necessarlly wanL Lo show lL Lo Lhe
88C. 1hey mlghL be [usL qulLe happy Lo Lalk abouL
lL over a plnL aL Lhe pub because LhaL's where
Lhey're comforLable. 1hls noLlon LhaL everybody
wanLs Lo conLrlbuLe Lo Lhe 88C... my lnsLlncL Lells
me we're a blL opLlmlsLlc.

AL Llmes 'uCC' ls LreaLed as represenLaLlve
of Lhe audlence as a whole, alLhough senlor
managemenL ls aware LhaL Lhls problemaLlc
and warns agalnsL Lhe pracLlce

Audlence CommenLs are someLlmes belng used as an
lndlcaLor of audlence oplnlon. lndlvldual presenLers
lmpllclLly (and aL rare Llmes expllclLly) use Lhe
commenLs as a gauge of audlence oplnlon abouL a
parLlcular sLory. 1here were examples from Lhe conLenL
analysls, as well as newsroom observaLlons when
presenLers suggesLed LhaL emalls or LexLs reflecLed Lhe
vlews of Lhe whole audlence. CommenLs such as Lhese
were commonplace:

We've had loLs and loLs of emalls. l wanL Lo read
a few of Lhem as Lhey really glve a sense of whaL
people are Lhlnklng,

)
)










1he audlence seems very dlvlded by Lhe look of
Lhe LexLs and emalls we've recelved.

We've recelved loLs and loLs of emalls on Lhls
sub[ecL, and Lhls ls whaL you've Lold us.

Cn many occaslons, presenLers sLressed Lhe hlgh
volume of emalls Lhey had recelved, whlch lmpllclLly
suggesLs represenLaLlveness ls noL a concern. 8ecause
Lhere are loLs of responses, lL ls lmplled, Lhey slmply
musL Lell us someLhlng abouL publlc oplnlon on a
sub[ecL. 1hls aLLlLude was echoed ln Lhe language of
many behlnd-Lhe -scenes [ournallsLs. Powever, even an
lnbox of 900 emalls ls a very small percenLage of Lhe
overall audlence, and as Lhls research has shown, ls very
llkely Lo be made up of a speclflc sub-secLlon of Lhe
audlence.

Lach mornlng a summary of Lhe 'uCC' Pub commenLs ls
emalled Lo all newsrooms as a way of sharlng whlch
debaLes are recelvlng mosL Lrafflc and Lhe Lypes of
commenLs belng recelved. ln addlLlon Lhe webslLe
sLaLlsLlcs ln Lerms of mosL read and emalled sLorles are
shared. ln lnLervlews wlLh [ournallsLs, lL was clear LhaL
Lhese Lwo 'servlces' were LreaLed wlLh personal
lnLeresL buL Lhey were wary abouL allowlng lL Lo
lnfluence Lhe news agenda, because of an awareness
LhaL Lhe 88C should noL be drlven by popullsL forces.

lrom observaLlons and lnLervlews, lL ls clear LhaL edlLors
and senlor news execuLlves are also aware of Lhe
dangerous LempLaLlon of Lhe news agenda belng
lnfluenced by Pub commenLs or webslLe sLaLlsLlcs. 1hls
needs Lo be sLressed, however, as some [unlor
[ournallsLs were more llkely Lo conslder Lhese
commenLs as evldence of audlence engagemenL wlLh
parLlcular sLorles. 1here were a number of commenLs
abouL Lhe dally emall from Lhe 'uCC' Pub allowlng
[ournallsLs Lo geL a sense of whaL people were Lhlnklng
ouLslde Lhe 'WhlLe ClLy bubble': 'lL ls lmporLanL Lo hear
whaL Lhe audlence Lhlnks, as 1v cenLre ls really a news
bubble and you forgeL whaL else ls golng on ouL Lhere.'
!"#$%&'((#)
,,)
!

lL's lmporLanL Lo geL Lhe audlence perspecLlve
and lL's greaL Lo see lL so qulckly. We can flnd ouL
wheLher Lhe audlence llkes or dlsllkes Lhe way we
are coverlng a sLory. 1he debaLes are [usL good Lo
gauge people's aLLlLudes and you geL a very qulck
sense of whaL people Lhlnk abouL sLorles.

1here were [ournallsLs who expressed concern abouL
uslng audlence maLerlal as a gauge of publlc oplnlon.

When you look aL Lhe debaLe on Pave ?our Say
webslLe Lhere ls every danger LhaL readlng LhaL
you would Lhlnk LhaL ls Lhe general vlew, lf you
read Lwo or Lhree pages of commenLs, LhaL you
mlghL Lhlnk LhaL represenLed publlc oplnlon. 8uL
of course, you [usL cannoL say LhaL, because lL ls a
self-selecLlng sample. 8uL as for people who send
an e-mall Lo Lell us someLhlng ls happenlng, or
people who send ln a phoLograph, my feellng ls
LhaL LhaL ls [usL an ever wldenlng group of people
who reallse LhaL lL ls an opLlon. 1he people who
geL ln Louch wlLh 'uCC' are Lhe people who care,
and Lhe people who are more llkely Lo have an
axe Lo grlnd. So you may geL some good conLenL,
buL you are also golng Lo geL loLs of people who
have a vesLed lnLeresL ln whaL acLually happens
and Lhe ouLcome of Lhe sLory.

Cne [ournallsL was concerned 'uCC' was belng
embraced wlLhouL necessary conslderaLlon of Lhe lssue
of represenLaLlveness. She argued LhaL lL would be very
easy Lo compare audlence commenLs wlLh sclenLlflc
measuremenLs of publlc oplnlon. She Lhen wenL on Lo
emphaslse Lhe need Lo use LradlLlonal [ournallsLlc Lools
when deallng wlLh Audlence MaLerlal. 1he besL
approach would be Lo encourage [ournallsLs Lo look for
LhoughLful or surprlslng vlews and oplnlons. ln oLher
words 'Lo be [ournallsLlc' wlLh Lhe maLerlal, as Lhey
would wlLh any oLher source.

When senlor edlLors and managers were prompLed on
Lhe sub[ecL, all expressed concern LhaL 'uCC' could be
used as a surrogaLe for publlc oplnlon.









8lchard Sambrook: l Lhlnk LhaL Lhere's a rlsk Lhere
and l Lhlnk LhaL you have Lo make sure LhaL your
edlLorlal processes are robusL. Cne of Lhe Lhlngs
LhaL happened wlLh dlglLal Lechnology ln Lhe
early days of lnLeracLlve Lelevlslon, for example,
was LhaL Sky, and lndeed ourselves, would run
Lhese polls'. ?ou know '8orls for klng of London,
voLe now' and Lhey're compleLely
unrepresenLaLlve and Lhey don'L mean anyLhlng. l
sLopped Lhem because l sald lL's a sllly use of
Lechnology and has absoluLely no edlLorlal value
aL all. So you do have Lo conLlnually challenge
yourself abouL how you're uslng Lhe Lechnology
and whaL you're Laklng from Lhe maLerlal LhaL's
belng submlLLed. And you're rlghL people sLarL Lo
Lhlnk LhaL's publlc oplnlon. 1hey're wrong. 8uL
LhaL's slmply abouL havlng a robusL edlLorlal
process ln place.

eLe CllfLon, Pead of LdlLorlal uevelopmenL for
MulLlmedla, shared slmllar vlews:

?es l would be very alarmed lf Lhere were clear
examples of us changlng Lhe LhrusL of one of our
sLorles on Lhe back of a heavy response Lo a
debaLe LhaL we were carrylng on Lhe slLe. lf Lhere
was a really, slgnlflcanLly hlgh response Lo an
lssue lL would be flne Lo reflecL some of Lhe
commenLs LhaL we've had Lo lndlcaLe LhaL lL's
been a hlghly used debaLe, buL Lo say LhaL Lhls ls
Lhe pulse of Lhe naLlon ls absoluLely noL whaL
we'd llke Lo suggesL.

Pe also admlLLed LhaL Lhe numbers of conLrlbuLors are a
small proporLlon of Lhe overall audlence, buL lL doesn'L
feel LhaL way when faced wlLh Lhe everyday volume:

l suppose lf you look aL Lhe proporLlon compared
Lo our overall audlence, lL ls very small. lL doesn'L
feel llke LhaL when you see Lhe amounL LhaL we
have Lo handle each day.

1he audlence was also aware of Lhls lssue of self-
selecLlon, perhaps even more Lhan many [ournallsLs
lnLervlewed for Lhe research.
,-)
!"#$%&'((#)
!








Mldge: lL's only cerLaln Lypes of people who
conLrlbuLe and recommend, buL Lhey are
presenLlng lL as lf Lhls ls whaL Lhe publlc
Lhlnk, buL lL's people who have Lhe Llme
and Lhe lncllnaLlon Lo go on Lhese slLes
and ranL. And agaln, llke you [oLher focus
group parLlclpanLs] were saylng, lL's qulLe
easlly manlpulaLed. lf you spend Lhe
whole day recommendlng Lhe rlghL ones,
and commenLlng, and you can LoLally
swlng Lhls slLe for showlng whaL Lhe
publlc Lhlnks.
Akash: 1he 88C ls Lrylng Lo seL up an agenda
creaLed by members of Lhe publlc
Lhrough Lhls sorL of medlum lnsLead of
uslng Lhelr own edlLorlal skllls... ln Lhe old
days, ln Lhe pasL, before Lhe advenL of Lhe
lnLerneL Lhey chose whaL sub[ecLs Lo
cover, when Lo cover Lhem, how Lo cover,
how long, and all Lhe resL of lL. 8uL now
because of Lhls medlum Lhls ls glvlng
Lhem clues. 1hls sub[ecL ls popular, so
we'd beLLer puL up someLhlng on Lhe
news abouL lL. Cr make a programme
abouL lL... (locus Croup 3).

Charles: 1he klnd of people who are llkely Lo
make Lhe efforL Lo go on someLhlng and posL [.]
are noL llkely Lo be a represenLaLlve sample of Lhe
enLlre populaLlon. 1here are ofLen people wlLh
exLreme pollLlcal persuaslons wllllng Lo lnvesL
more Llme and efforL Lo ensure LhaL Lhelr vlews
are dlsproporLlonaLely heard. l Lhlnk Lhe vasL
ma[orlLy of people, you know Lhe moderaLes,
don'L have much of an oplnlon on mosL lssues.
1he ldea LhaL [bulleLln boards] represenL some
sorL of sLraw poll of publlc oplnlon ls [usL noL
valld. (locus Croup 2)

An analogous doubL abouL Lhe 'represenLaLlve' naLure
of Lhls slLe ls expressed by uavey ln locus Croup 3 and
Sarah ln locus Croup 1:

uavey: 1haL's a loL of sLuff Lo geL Lhrough lf you
wanL Lo read lL all. And Lhere ls a dlfflculLy Lhere,








lsn'L Lhere? lL ls noL represenLaLlve of Lhe
populaLlon aL large. lL's very slgnlflcanLly noL
represenLaLlve. [.] l'd say Lhe demographlcs are
such LhaL lL's [usL noL known Lo Lhe large number
of people from dlfferenL backgrounds. 1he resulLs
from LhaL posslbly aren'L a reallsLlc
represenLaLlon of real LhoughL. (locus Croup 3)

1here are slgnlflcanL barrlers Lo
parLlclpaLlon: dlglLal dlvlde, soclo-economlc
background, Lechnologlcal know-how, lack
of lmpeLus, and negaLlve percepLlons held
by Lhe general audlence abouL Lhose who
do conLrlbuLe

1hls research has demonsLraLed Lhere are a number of
lssues whlch are prevenLlng audlence members from
conLrlbuLlng. 1here are economlc barrlers as suggesLed
by Lhe lmpacL of soclal class on llkellhood Lo conLrlbuLe.
1here are also sLrucLural barrlers such as Lhe ulglLal
ulvlde, whlch resulLs ln slgnlflcanL numbers of people
noL havlng access Lo broadband connecLlons, or havlng
Lhe flnanclal means Lo conLrlbuLe. 1here are also
barrlers ln Lerms of know-how, boLh ln Lerms of how Lo
wrlLe an emall or send a dlglLal phoLograph, buL also
how Lo send lnformaLlon Lo Lhe rlghL place aL Lhe 88C.
erhaps more lmporLanLly, ln Lerms of 88C pollcy, are
psychologlcal barrlers. Cne ls lack of lmpeLus, and Lhe
facL LhaL many people admlLLed LhaL conLacLlng a news
organlsaLlon or conLrlbuLlng maLerlal would be Lhe lasL
Lhlng on Lhelr mlnd. 1he second, and Lhls was a sLrongly
held bellef, was Lhe facL LhaL a ma[orlLy of Lhe focus
group parLlclpanLs held a negaLlve aLLlLude Lowards
Lhose who do conLrlbuLe. (lL should be acknowledged
LhaL Lhe negaLlve aLLlLudes were dlrecLed aL Lhose who
send ln oplnlon based commenLs raLher Lhan oLher
sorLs of Audlence MaLerlal. SlgnlflcanLly Lhe focus group
parLlclpanLs sLaLed LhaL Lhey dld noL wanL Lo be
assoclaLed wlLh Lhls group because of Lhese negaLlve
connoLaLlons, and Lherefore dld noL wanL Lo conLrlbuLe.


!"#$%&'((#)
,.)
!


Soclo-economlc Class

1he MC8l survey demonsLraLes Lhe lmpacL of class on
wheLher audlence members submlL maLerlal.
34 of hlgh level managers and professlonals, and
mlddle-managers and professlonals had submlLLed
some form of Audlence MaLerlal compared wlLh 12 of
1he Lwo lowesL soclal classes (manual workers and Lhe
unwaged).

1hls correlaLes wlLh household lncome. 32
of people who had a household lncome over 40,000
had submlLLed maLerlal, compared wlLh 19 of Lhose
wlLh a household lncome under 10,000.
1here ls reslsLance Lo, and lack of undersLandlng abouL,
Lhe role of Audlence MaLerlal (especlally audlence
commenL onllne) from cerLaln secLlons of Lhe audlence,
parLlcularly older audlences and Lhose from lower
soclo-economlc classes.

Cne [ournallsL we lnLervlewed openly dlscussed how
llLLle Lhe 88C knows abouL Lhe demographlc make-up of
Lhose who conLrlbuLe and whaL LhaL could mean. She
suggesLed Lhere may be an unlnLended anLl-democraLlc
effecL of uslng large amounLs of 'uCC'. lL wlll, she
lmplled, necessarlly favour Lhe educaLed, Lhe arLlculaLe
and Lhe beLLer off. 1hls ls naLural glven Lhe facL LhaL so
much of Lhe 'uCC' ellclLed from Lhe publlc ls done uslng
compuLers and expenslve elecLronlc equlpmenL, and
LhaL Lhe LexL-based 'uCC' found mosL useful by
[ournallsLs ls Lhe maLerlal whlch ls already well-
consLrucLed, plLhy, and of hlgh edlLorlal quallLy.

ulglLal ulvlde


ln Lerms of Lhe dlglLal dlvlde, Lhe MC8l survey dldn'L ask
speclflcally abouL Lechnology ownershlp, buL lL ls
sLrlklng LhaL of Lhe 693 people who responded Lo Lhe
onllne survey, 94 had a broadband connecLlon aL
home. 1hls ls slgnlflcanLly above Lhe naLlonal average of
[usL over half of 8rlLlsh households (33) whlch have a
broadband connecLlon (63 have some Lype of access










Lo Lhe lnLerneL). Whlle Lhe number of households wlLh
broadband connecLlons ls rlslng, Lhe dlglLal dlvlde ls sLlll
a facLor. SlgnlflcanLly 69 of A8 respondenLs had
broadband compared wlLh 34 of uLs. 88 of A8s own
a C compared wlLh 47 of uLs. 80 of households
whlch earn more Lhan 30,000 have broadband access
compared wlLh 24 of Lhose who earn less Lhan
11,300
17
.

1echno|og|ca| know-now

uesplLe general appreclaLlon of audlence conLenL, many
people ln Lhe focus groups do noL see Lhemselves as
poLenLlal conLrlbuLors because: Lhere ls wldespread
lgnorance abouL how Lo conLacL Lhe 88C (by phone, LexL
or e-mall), cerLaln demographlc groups lack Lhe
Lechnlcal ablllLy and confldence ln Lhelr use of
Lechnology such as compuLers, dlglLal cameras, and
moblle phones, Lhe lasL Lhlng Lhey would Lhlnk abouL
dolng when faced wlLh an exLra-ordlnary evenL would
be fllmlng or phoLographlng lL, and Lhey ofLen assume
LhaL somebody else would have done LhaL already.

ln our general survey of Lhe populaLlon only 4 of Lhe
publlc llsLed 'noL knowlng how' Lo send maLerlal ln Lo a
news organlsaLlon as a reason for noL belng 'uCC'-
acLlve. uesplLe Lhls Lhe focus groups revealed a
wldespread and concernlng lgnorance abouL how Lo
conLacL or send conLenL Lo Lhe 88C (by phone, LexL, or
e-mall).

lL was common Lo hear people of all ages and
demographlc backgrounds declarlng LhaL even lf Lhey
dld wanL Lo send ln maLerlal Lo Lhe 88C Lhey would noL
know how Lo go abouL lL. ?ounger people were less
llkely Lo menLlon Lhls as a barrler Lo conLrlbuLlng, and
Lhey were also more llkely Lo come up wlLh easy
soluLlons Lo Lhls problem. uora, a regular bulleLln-board
conLrlbuLor, was qulck Lo come up wlLh a suggesLlon for
easlly obLalnlng Lhe correcL phone number Lo conLacL
Lhe 88C wlLh a news sLory Llp-off, for example:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%(
!Cfcom Annual 8eporL 07/08!
,/)
!"#$%&'((#)
!









!ullan: 1he chap who senL ln Lhe fooLage of Lhe
flre ln Camden, how dld he know Lhe
number Lo phone aL LhaL momenL?
uora: Pe probably rang a frlend and a frlend
looked lL up on Lhe lnLerneL. (locus Croup
9)

1hose over Lhe age of 33, however, were Lhe mosL llkely
Lo menLlon Lhls accesslblllLy problem as an obsLacle Lo
submlLLlng conLenL:

vlrglnla: l don'L have a camera, buL lf l dld l
wouldn'L really know where Lo send lL. (locus
Croup 9)

8erLha: l wouldn'L know where Lo rlng.
ualsy: l wouldn'L elLher.
8erLha: l mean, lL's as slmple as LhaL. l [usL
wouldn'L know how Lo conLacL... you
know, lf lL's goL Lo be done lmmedlaLely...
l mean, Lhls guy aL Lhe scene of Lhe flre,
how dld he know? uld he have Lhe
number Lo hand?
Lmma: Well l guess he musL have. (locus Croup
6)

8ose: l wouldn'L , no
Mary: l wouldn'L know where Lo sLarL on dolng lL
Andrew: l would, buL l wouldn'L have a clue how
Lo geL lL Lo Lhe 88C. (locus Croup 12)

Maggle: 1here's no way l could see myself dolng
LhaL. l wouldn'L know where Lo send lL. (locus
Croup 10)

A slgnlflcanL flndlng ls LhaL Lhls problem was noL llmlLed
Lo older parLlclpanLs. A number of young people who
were acLlve conLrlbuLors of news-relaLed maLerlal
Lalked abouL Lhe problems Lhey had flndlng Lhe correcL
local conLacL deLalls even afLer Lhey had already
declded Lo conLrlbuLe maLerlal. 1he followlng exchange
beLween !ullan (43-34, C1) and vlnce (33-44, C1) ls a
case ln polnL:



!ullan: l found lL really hard Lo geL Lhe rlghL
person Lo conLacL Lo send someLhlng Lo
88C Wales Lo puL my ldea Lhrough. l
couldn'L remember Lhe llnk on Wales
1oday. 1hey always say lf you have a
sLory Lhen e-mall lL Lo us aL... well l hadn'L
wrlLLen down, so l LhoughL l'd [usL send lL
ln. So l wenL on Lhe webslLe and l Lrled Lo
flnd lL, and ended up on Pave ?our Say
naLlonally, and l LhoughL, LhaL's noL Lhe
rlghL one. And l was Lrylng desperaLely...
and ln Lhe end l LhoughL LhaL l'll have Lo
walL unLll LonlghL Lo see whaL Lhey say
because lL wasn'L easy Lo acLually puL
your ldea Lhrough. And ln Lhe end l found
a llnk whlch was [usL conLacL Lhe
newsroom. So l [usL dld LhaL. l LhoughL
Lhey make Lhls blg polnL on Wales 1oday
abouL 'have you goL a sLory LhaL you wanL
Lo Lalk abouL? 8uL on Lhe acLual webslLe
Lhere's noLhlng Lhere Lo Lake you Lo lL, for
you Lo acLually puL your ldea forward.
And l found LhaL very off puLLlng
vlnce: l had exacLly Lhe same experlence a few
weeks ago. l was coverlng a flre ln 8arry. A
recycllng cenLre wenL up ln smoke. And l
Look all Lhese phoLographs, and was Lhlnklng
where Lhe hell do l send Lhem? l go onLo Lhe
88C news slLe, and as you say l was cllcklng
on all of Lhese dlfferenL llnks and none of
Lhem seemed llke Lhe rlghL one. l was Lrylng
Lo geL qulck access Lrylng Lo geL Lhls
lnformaLlon where lL needs Lo be and lL Look
a whlle Lo geL Lhere. lL wasn'L
sLralghLforward. lar, far from lL. l evenLually
found an e-mall address. 8uL someLlmes you
[usL wanL a phone number so you can speak
Lo a human and ask where you should go. l
[usL wanLed a number, or whaLever Lo geL
lnLo Lhe news desk and say, look, l've goL
Lhls sLory... you know. lL could be a loL
qulcker and a loL sllcker Lo geL ln Lhere.
(locus Croup 9)

!"#$%&'((#)
,0)
!

Cne 88C [ournallsL was parLlcularly concerned abouL
Lhe ways ln whlch Lhe lmpacL of Lhe dlglLal dlvlde was
noL belng consldered frequenLly enough. When he was
asked lf he LhoughL Lhere was a speclflc Lype of person
who submlLs user generaLed conLenL, he answered:

l would say LhaL Lhe people who submlL, almosL
cerLalnly have Lo have some sorL of Lechnlcal
apLlLude. We forgeL, because we use compuLers
all day long, LhaL lL mlghL be qulLe a blg deal for
someone Lo Lake a plcLure wlLh a dlglLal camera
and upload lL onLo a compuLer and Lhen e-mall lL
over Lhe lnLerneL Lo 88C news. So l Lhlnk LhaL
Lhey would have Lo be a cerLaln degree of web
llLeracy, shall we say, LhaL Lhese people would
have Lo possess oLherwlse Lhey would noL be able
Lo conLrlbuLe

8aslc Lechnologlcal know-how was ralsed by a
number of focus group parLlclpanLs. Many were
concerned abouL where Lo send maLerlal ln Lo Lhe
88C as much as how Lo Lake dlglLal phoLos ln Lhe flrsL
place. 1hls was parLlcularly Lhe case wlLh older
audlence members, buL was noL llmlLed Lo Lhem.

Lack of lmpeLus Lo ConLrlbuLe

1here was also Lhe lssue of whaL mlghL be Lermed a
parLlcular 'mlnd- seL'. Many people ralsed Lhe ldea LhaL
Lhey would never send ln maLerlal slmply because Lhe
ldea would never occur Lo Lhem.

uave: Lven lf l was aL Lhe end of Lhe world l don'L
Lhlnk l would vldeo lL and send lL ln Lo Lhe
88C.
Laura: l don'L Lhlnk lL would occur Lo me lf my bus
was belng flooded Lo geL ouL my camera
and sLarL fllmlng. l Lhlnk l would be more
concerned wlLh oLher Lhlngs. l don'L Lhlnk l
would.
8esearcher: Clenda would you do Lhls sLuff?
Clenda: Maybe lf l was Lhe only person around,
and lf Lhere was someLhlng happenlng
rlghL Lhere and Lhen l would, buL oLherwlse









probably noL. lL would noL really occur Lo
me.
8renda: l don'L Lhlnk lL would occur Lo me aL all
really. Lven Lhough l flnd lL really
lnLeresLlng, lL's a compleLe conLradlcLlon
acLually, l flnd lL lnLeresLlng Lo waLch buL...
for example lf l saw a LerrorlsL aLLack l
would [usL wanL Lo geL ouL of Lhere as
qulckly as posslble. l wouldn'L Lhlnk Lo sLop
and sLarL fllmlng. no, l wouldn'L l don'L
Lhlnk. (locus Croup 1)

1hls marked anLlpaLhy among many focus group
parLlclpanLs from all demographlc groups ls echoed ln
Lhe small numbers of Lhe 8rlLlsh publlc who clalm Lhey
would acL as 'clLlzen reporLers' when faced wlLh a
newsworLhy lncldenL. 8espondenLs were asked whaL
Lhey would do lf Lhey wlLnessed a large facLory flre and
knew Lhe emergency servlces had been called. CuL of a
range of posslble responses only 3 sald Lhey would
conLacL Lhe medla Lo leL Lhem know whaL's golng on. A
furLher 14 woolJ Lake a phoLo buL only 6 sald Lhey
would send Lhe phoLo Lo a news organlsaLlon. 1he
remalnlng 8 would Lake a phoLo buL oot seoJ lL Lo a
news organlsaLlon.

!ournallsLs also ralsed Lhe posslblllLy LhaL audlence
members mlghL assume someone else had senL ln
someLhlng:

l Lhlnk Lhere's an lnLeresLlng dlfference beLween
people's readlness Lo conLacL Lhe 88C for Lhls
sorL of Lhlng, and Lhelr ablllLy, Lhelr wllllngness Lo
conLacL commerclal broadcasLers. 1here's sorL of
an assumpLlon LhaL Lhe 88C always knows.

1hls was echoed ln Lhe words of some focus group
parLlclpanLs.



,1)
!"#$%&'((#)
!




negaLlve ercepLlons by Lhe Ceneral Audlence abouL
Lhose who do conLrlbuLe

locus group parLlclpanLs had a deflnlLe ldea abouL Lhe
Lype of people who are sendlng ln maLerlal, and Lhese
percepLlons Lended Lo be negaLlve. 1hls ls lmporLanL
because Lhese percepLlons appear Lo be a genulne
barrler Lo oLher people submlLLlng maLerlal.
Andrew: 8y respondlng Lo Lhese resulLs for 'uCC',
you are really saylng, 'l Lhlnk l have someLhlng
worLhy Lo say on Lhe Loplc', when really, mosL of
Lhe 'uCC' oplnlons we hear are noL LhaL greaL - l
wouldn'L wanL Lo assoclaLe myself wlLh Lhose
people by dolng Lhe same Lhlng as Lhem. (locus
Croup 12)
1hey were framed as elLher unlnformed and/or
lnarLlculaLe, publlclLy seekers holdlng exLreme oplnlons.

Lmma: MosL of Lhe people, ln my percepLlon
anyway, mosL of Lhe people who would rlng ln
are Lhe ones who do lL because Lhey are Lhe
exLremlsLs. l don'L Lhlnk Lhe moderaLe masses
Lend Lo LexL or phone ln or do Lhese Lhlngs. l
Lhlnk Lhey [usL slL Lhere Lhlnklng lL's rldlculous.
Whereas you geL every loony Loon or exLremlsL
conLacLlng Lhem all Lhe Llme. [.] 8uL mosL
normal people would have beLLer Lhlngs Lo do.
(locus Croup 6)

llo: l Lhlnk Lhere ls a sense LhaL maybe Lhese are
people LhaL nobody ln Lhe real world would llsLen
Lo, Lherefore Lhey feel compelled Lo say lL
somewhere, and so Lhey say lL on Lhe lnLerneL
(locus Croup 2).
ln Lhe focus groups lL was very common for parLlclpanLs
Lo dlsLance Lhemselves from people who dld submlL
maLerlal. 'normallslng' parLlclpaLlon should be a key
concern for!Lhe 88C, lf Lhe alm ls Lo broaden Lhe
number and Lypes of people submlLLlng conLenL.









locus group parLlclpanLs suggesLed LhaL
Lhere was no moLlvaLlon Lo conLrlbuLe
because of Lhe lack of a real-world end
producL or resulL

CommenLs seemed Lo suggesL LhaL because no-one
powerful or lnfluenLlal was LhoughL Lo be readlng or
llsLenlng Lo Lhe commenLs, Lhere was no polnL ln Laklng
parL. 1hls was parLlcularly Lhe case wlLh younger
members of focus groups, buL many older parLlclpanLs
echoed Lhls senLlmenL.

uenlse: 8uL you know, we are e-malllng frlends
aren'L we? So lf we dld wanL Lo make a
pollLlcal polnL on one of Lhese slLes we
could do lL very easlly.
Adrlan: ?eah, buL Lo whom?
!osh: LxacLly, whaL for? lL [usL goes ouL lnLo Lhe
eLher.
Maggle: lL's [usL so faceless. 1haL's whaL l don'L
llke abouL lL.
!osh: l don'L see Lhe polnL. (locus Croup 10)

8lchard: 8uL whaL happens Lo all Lhe lnformaLlon,
Lhough?
Slan: ?ou Lhlnk LhaL unless someLhlng geLs done
abouL lL...
8lchard: lL would be nlce lf Lhe governmenL looks
aL Lhe messages and Look Lhen on
board, Lhen someLhlng acLually
happens. (locus Croup 3)

8lchard: WhaLever l wrlLe ln abouL Lhe budgeL
lsn'L golng Lo change whaL our money geLs spenL
on, ls lL aL Lhe end of Lhe day? 1haL's [usL a wasLe
of space Lo me. lf l knew LhaL my lnformaLlon was
)
)
!"#$%&'((#)
,2)
!

golng Lo go Lo Lhe Pouse of Commons , Lhen l can
see Lhe polnL of commenLlng. 8uL when you [usL
commenL, and [usL puL your oplnlon lnLo a
compuLer llke LhaL Lhere's no polnL...lf you puL
someLhlng on Lhere abouL paylng road Lax, or
paylng for Lhe pollce, puLLlng lL up Lhere lsn'L
golng Lo make no dlfference ls lL? ?ou sLlll goL Lo


pay lL. ?ou're [usL puLLlng your oplnlon down on
paper, so whaL's Lhe polnL? lL's llke wrlLlng lL
down ln a leLLer and Lhen posLlng lL Lo nobody.
(locus Croup 3)

1hese responses were unexpecLed buL clearly suggesL
poLenLlal parLlclpanLs are puL off by Lhe percelved lack
of real-world lnfluence.

Cn Lhe MC8l survey, parLlclpanLs were asked for Lhelr
reasons for noL submlLLlng maLerlal. 1he cholces were
1) lack of lnLeresL ln conLrlbuLlng (30), 2) couldn'L be
boLhered (24), 3) don'L have Llme (18), 4) don'L have
anyLhlng lnLeresLlng Lo say (11), 3) noL sure how (4),
6) prefer Lo leave lL Lo Lhe [ournallsLs (4), 7) don'L
Lhlnk Lhey'd use my conLrlbuLlon (4), 8) worrled LhaL lL
mlghL cosL money (3), 9) don'L consume news or
currenL affalrs (3).
19


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
%)
unforLunaLely, as Lhe Morl survey was carrled ouL before
Lhe focus group research we unable Lo explore Lhe posslblllLy
LhaL audlences mlghL be dlshearLened by noL bellevlng Lhelr
parLlclpaLlon would have any real world effecLs.
!
-3)
!"#$%&'((#)
!















Concluslons

1he lncorporaLlon of Audlence MaLerlal lnLo [ournallsm
ls noL new. LeLLers Lo Lhe edlLor, radlo call-lns and Lhe
use of vox pops on Lelevlslon news have a long hlsLory.

1he rapld Lechnologlcal developmenLs of domesLlc
broadband and cheap moblle phones have provlded
even greaLer, and equally lmporLanLly, fasLer
opporLunlLles for audlences Lo provlde lmmedlaLe
feedback, as well as breaklng news fooLage and Llp-offs
Lo news organlsaLlons.

Whlle Lhere are many quesLlons Lo ask abouL Lhese
developmenLs, as 8lchard Sambrook polnLs ouL,

lL's here Lo sLay. lL's asslmllaLed lnLo news
gaLherlng processes and convenLlons of news
coverage. 1echnology wlll conLlnue Lo evolve and
more of lL ls golng Lo be slmpler and easler Lo do,
l Lhlnk. 8uL Lhe blg [ump we've made.

1hls reporL has hlghllghLed a number of lssues
relaLlng Lo how 88C [ournallsLs vlew and work wlLh
Audlence MaLerlal: Lhe role lL plays ln Lerms of
newsgaLherlng, concerns abouL auLhenLlclLy, and Lhe
dlfflculLles faced ln Lerms of encouraglng Lhe
submlsslon of Lhe mosL approprlaLe klnds of
maLerlal.















noLhlng new? 8elylng on 1radlLlonal !ournallsLlc
1echnlques


ulLlmaLely Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of Lhe [ournallsLs
lnLervlewed for Lhls research arLlculaLed Lhelr approach
Lo worklng wlLh 'uCC' uslng Lhe lens of LradlLlonal
[ournallsLlc Lechnlques and values. lor mosL news
[ournallsLs aL Lhe 88C, 'uCC' refers almosL excluslvely Lo
whaL we ldenLlfy ln our Lypology as Audlence ConLenL
(audlence fooLage, audlence experlences, and audlence
sLorles).

lnLervlews wlLh, and observaLlon of [ournallsLs
demonsLraLed LhaL mosL are aware on a dally basls
of Lhe need Lo 'fllLer everyLhlng Lhrough Lhe 88C
[ournallsm lens', and lf Lhls ls done properly Lhere
should be no concerns abouL auLhenLlclLy, rellablllLy,
and represenLaLlveness. As Pugh 8erlyn argues,
Lechnology mlghL have changed, buL Lhe
fundamenLal LeneLs of [ournallsm have noL.

!ournallsLs sLlll have Lo do Lhe good old fashloned
news-gaLherlng [ob of checklng ouL sources,
geLLlng ouL Lhere, geLLlng Lhe sLory Lhemselves
and Lhen uslng Lhe 'uCC' maLerlal as added value,
as exLra sLuff LhaL can help Lhem do Lhelr [ob buL
noL do Lhe [ob for Lhem.

eLer 8lppon arLlculaLed slmllar vlews:

We have Lo apply Lhe same Lhlngs we do ln all our
non-user CeneraLed ConLenL [ournallsm: Lo use
our own wlLs Lo declde wheLher we Lhlnk Lhe
sLory LhaL we are developlng wlLh user
CeneraLed ConLenL's help ls golng be Lhe klnd of
sLory LhaL would lnLeresL our wlder audlence.

1hese aLLlLudes are unsurprlslng conslderlng 88C
[ournallsLs' deLermlnaLlon Lo preserve Lhe quallLy of lLs
news ouLpuL, Lhrough lLs emphasls on ensurlng
auLhenLlclLy and malnLalnlng Lhe LrusL of Lhe audlence
ln Lhe face of lncreaslng use of maLerlal LhaL ls,
ulLlmaLely produced by unquallfled professlonals. 1here
ls evldence Loo, LhaL Lhe audlence aLLaches greaL
!"#$%&'((#)
-*)
!


lmporLance Lo Lhe professlonal [ournallsL's role as
edlLorlal fllLer veLLlng Audlence ConLenL ln order Lo
susLaln Lhe quallLy of Lhe news.
)
)

Powever, Lhe over-rldlng and wldespread vlew among
[ournallsLs LhaL 'uCC' ls no more Lhan grlsL Lo Lhe
edlLorlal mlll, anoLher source of raw-maLerlal among
many Lo be processed by Lhem lnLo [ournallsLlc news
ouLpuL mlghL llmlL Lhe posslblllLles offered by cerLaln
klnds of Audlence MaLerlal.

'uCC' aL Lhe 88C: 1he luLure

1hree years afLer 'uCC' ln news really galned
momenLum wlLh Lhe 7/7 bomblngs, Lhe hype
surroundlng 'uCC' ls subsldlng, and Lhe 88C ls currenLly
dellberaLlng how besL Lo move forward ln lLs LreaLmenL
and use of Audlence MaLerlal. lrom Lhe research
conducLed over Lhe pasL Lwelve monLhs, lL seems
approprlaLe Lo suggesL LhaL 88C !ournallsm should
dlsenLangle Lhe 3 Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal avallable,
and develop sLraLegles for deallng wlLh each, separaLely
where approprlaLe.

Securlng and uslng hlgh-quallLy Audlence ConLenL
(breaklng news fooLage, audlence experlences and
audlence generaLed new sLorles) wlll conLlnue Lo be a
hlgh prlorlLy for 88C news [ournallsLs LhroughouL Lhe
CorporaLlon. 1hls research has found LhaL such
maLerlal, wlLh some caveaLs, ls valued by a large cross
secLlon of Lhe audlence. As Lhe lncreaslng volume of
audlo vlsual maLerlal senL Lo Lhe 88C over Lhe lasL
decade aLLesLs, conLlnued wldenlng access Lo relevanL
Lechnology wlll probably mean LhaL Lhls area of
audlence conLenL provlslon wlll conLlnue Lo grow.

ConversaLlons aL Lhe hlghesL edlLorlal levels are now
underway abouL how besL Lo provlde space for Lhe
expresslon, publlcaLlon, and broadcasL of Audlence
CommenL, glven Lhe exLremely resource-lnLenslve
naLure, and perhaps llmlLed edlLorlal value, of hosLlng












and moderaLlng publlc debaLe. 1he flndlngs of Lhls
research relaLlng Lo audlence aLLlLudes Lo Lhls klnd of
maLerlal wlll no doubL feed lnLo Lhese conLlnulng
dlscusslons.

1he role of non-news conLenL should noL be lgnored.
1hls research has shown LhaL whlle only 4 of Lhe
8rlLlsh publlc had used a news relaLed webslLe, hlgher
numbers of people had conLrlbuLed Lo non-news slLes
(18 had conLrlbuLed Lo a soclal neLworklng slLe, 11
had conLrlbuLed Lo anoLher debaLe webslLe llke a non-
news blog or bulleLln board and 7 conLrlbuLed Lo
vldeo or phoLo sharlng slLe). 1hls research showed LhaL
people conLrlbuLe when Lhey are passlonaLe abouL a
sub[ecL and/or feel confldenL enough abouL a sub[ecL Lo
conLrlbuLe. 1oplcs such as weaLher and sporL are
levellers - everyone has an oplnlon. Whlle Lhe
broadcasLlng of non-news phoLographs (such as
phoLographs of sunseLs or communlLy evenLs) recelved
mlxed revlews, Lhey appear Lo play a role ln engaglng
wlLh cerLaln parLs of Lhe audlence ln cerLaln edlLorlal
conLexLs buL noL ln oLhers, and could play a parL ln
bulldlng confldence and Lechnologlcal know-how ln
people who would oLherwlse be unllkely Lo conLrlbuLe
Lo maLerlal relaLed Lo hard news.

ln concluslon, we would llke Lo focus ln more depLh on
Lwo speclflc areas whlch we belleve offer opporLunlLles
Lo Lhe 88C whlch have so far been under-explored:
collaboraLlve conLenL and neLworked [ournallsm.
uesplLe Lhe apparenLly democraLlslng naLure of news-
relaLed Audlence MaLerlal, parLlclpaLlon ls sLlll
domlnaLed by people from Lhe upper soclo-economlc
groups. We belleve LhaL as parL of lLs publlc-servlce
remlL Lhe 88C could proacLlvely seek ouL parLlclpaLlon
ln communlLles and groups whlch LradlLlonally remaln
under Lhe radar of malnsLream medla.

Cne way of dolng Lhls mlghL be Lo draw on and adapL
Lhe rlch sLore of experlence Lhe 88C has of collaboraLlve
conLenL ouLslde of news and currenL affalrs ouLpuL. As
karen Lewls, who was an orlglnal producer for Lhe
dlglLal sLoryLelllng pro[ecL CapLure Wales explalns, only
-+)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







by worklng wlLh Lhese 'sllenL communlLles' do sLorles
appear, whlch oLherwlse would have been lgnored.

l cerLalnly always had an eye Lo worklng wlLh
soclally dlsplaced people who are noL
malnsLream, mlddle-class web users. lL's really,
really worLh Louchlng Lhose people. 1he Lhlng
LhaL l really love abouL vldeo naLlon and ulglLal
SLoryLelllng ls Lhe surprlse elemenL. ?ou're noL
Lelllng someone, 'Co ouL and flnd a sLory abouL
Lhe closlng of Lhe local prlmary school.' ?ou're
acLually uncoverlng llLLle gllmpses lnLo Lhe
currenL culLure and llfe of Wales. no [ournallsL
would ever reporL or ask Lhe quesLlon because
we wouldn'L have known LhaL lL was Lhere ln Lhe
flrsL place.

1he recenL developmenLs ln Lerms of uslng vldeo
naLlon Lo supporL ma[or 88C serles such as 88C2's
WhlLe season, and Lo provlde conLenL for malnsLream
currenL affalrs programmes such as anorama shows
how Lhese Lypes of collaboraLlve producLlons do noL
have Lo be consldered purely non-news lnlLlaLlves.

1he second area for focus should be neLworked
[ournallsm whlch was ralsed a number of Llmes ln
lnLervlews wlLh senlor producers and edlLors. 1hls
quoLe from eLer 8lppon (edlLor of 8adlo 4's lM)
emphaslses Lhe quallLy of lnformaLlon and experLlse
avallable on Lhe lnLerneL:

1he web has allowed Lhe creaLlon of all sorLs of
really lnLeresLlng communlLles around cerLaln
lssues, skllls, and experLlse. WhaL l'd llke Lo geL Lo
would be on any parLlcular sLory, we wlll puL Lhe
emall onllne, we would lnvlLe our communlLy of
ready-made experLs who have agreed Lo be on
our emall llsL Lo dlscuss Lhe sLory by plnglng
someLhlng Lo Lhem. 1hey would Lhen dlscuss Lhe
lssues ln fronL of everybody so LhaL everybody
can see, and you develop a sorL of dlscusslon
onllne LhaL evenLually becomes parL of whaLever
we do on alr.










neLworked [ournallsm uses as a foundaLlon Lhe ldea
LhaL 'Lhe audlence knows more Lhan you' and Lhls
model has growlng supporL. 8lchard Sambrook Lalked Lo
us abouL Lhe opporLunlLles presenLed by neLworked
[ournallsm, or 'slower cooklng [ournallsm' whlch Lakes
advanLage of '...a serles of nlches, a serles of
communlLles of lnLeresLs.' Pe wenL on,

l Lhlnk Lhe exclLlng blL ls how we could geL our
neLworked [ournallsm Lo really work, because
LhaL ls a very new LerrlLory. 1haL really ls
audlence-focused ln Lerms of how you develop
and drlve your [ournallsm. And nobody has really
qulLe cracked lL yeL. l'm sure we wlll sooner or
laLer. We're noL qulLe Lhere yeL. So LhaL's Lhe
klnd of lnLeresLlng and exclLlng area. We have Lo
go experlmenLlng and playlng wlLh lL unLll we flnd
a way of dolng lL.

1hls represenLs a slgnlflcanL move away from Lhe
LradlLlonal relaLlonshlp beLween [ournallsL and
audlence member, producer and consumer of Lhe news,
and wlll requlre a shlfL ln aLLlLude among 88C
[ournallsLs. Powever, Lhe quallLy of news ouLpuL can
only lmprove by harnesslng communlLles of lnLeresL and
experLlse whlch already exlsL, boLh off and onllne.

8e-evaluaLlon of LradlLlonal [ournallsLlc values


lor eyewlLness maLerlal, Pave ?our Say debaLes and
radlo call-lns, Lhe preservaLlon of Lhe sLrong gaLekeeper
role sLlll makes sense and ls necessary Lo malnLaln hlgh
sLandards of [ournallsm. 8uL lf Lhe 88C ls golng Lo Lake
full advanLage of Lhe opporLunlLles offered by Audlence
MaLerlal, Lhere wlll need Lo be an acknowledgemenL
LhaL Lhe [ournallsL's role as gaLekeeper wlll be eroded
by some forms of Audlence MaLerlal. ln collaboraLlve
and neLworked [ournallsm Lhe audlence member ls noL
[usL anoLher source of edlLorlal maLerlal, Lhey are a
parLner ln Lhe edlLorlal process. 1he currenL hlerarchy
whlch exlsLs beLween producers and consumers of
news wlll be necessarlly challenged, and conLrol of Lhe
end producL wlll have Lo be ceded somewhaL as old
medla values meeL, blend and, aL Llmes, clash wlLh new
!"#$%&'((#)
-,)
!


medla values. We belleve Lhls could be a good Lhlng,
and should lead Lo a news agenda whlch more
accuraLely reflecLs Lhe lnLeresLs and concerns of Lhe
audlence, a wlder range of people submlLLlng maLerlal
and engaglng wlLh 88C ouLpuL, lncreased levels of
medla llLeracy, and Lhe embeddlng of [ournallsm skllls
whlch should lmprove Lhe quallLy of Audlence MaLerlal
recelved overall.

1hls reporL has provlded an overvlew of currenL
pracLlces for uslng Audlence MaLerlal aL Lhe 88C. lL has
also deLalled quanLlLaLlve and quallLaLlve audlence
research, whlch provldes Lhe flrsL evldence on who ls
conLrlbuLlng maLerlal and Lhe vlews of Lhose who do
noL conLrlbuLe. We flnlsh wlLh 10 recommendaLlons, all
of whlch are dlrecLly derlved from Lhe daLa, and are
lnLended Lo lmprove Lhe ways ln whlch Lhe 88C Lo daLe
has called 'uCC'. lL wlll hopefully provlde a foundaLlon
for conversaLlons aL Lhe 88C abouL fuLure sLraLegles for
uslng and ellclLlng Audlence MaLerlal.
!


--)
!"#$%&'((#)
!









8ecommendaLlons

1. WlLhln Lhe 88C Lhe roles of Audlence
MaLerlal needs Lo be made clearer.

2. 1he facL LhaL Lhere are dlfferenL Lypes of
Audlence MaLerlal needs Lo be
acknowledged.

3. Audlence MaLerlal should never be used as
a way of assesslng audlence or publlc
oplnlon.

4. 1he facL LhaL Audlence MaLerlal should noL
be used as an oplnlon baromeLer ls
recognlsed aL a senlor level. Powever
meLhods need Lo be developed Lo ensure
[ournallsLs and presenLers are noL LempLed
Lo use commenLs as a measure of audlence
or publlc oplnlon.

S. 1here ls a need Lo reach ouL Lo lower soclo-
economlc sLaLus communlLles:
a. More collaboraLlve pro[ecLs (flnd
less resource-lnLenslve ways of
worklng ln communlLles),
b. Lncourage ldeas for news sLorles:
show how coverlng sLorles can make
a dlfference,
c. Change negaLlve audlence
percepLlons of Lhose who do submlL
maLerlal.


















6. Make lL clearer how Lo send maLerlal Lo Lhe
88C (parLlcularly regardlng confuslon abouL
Lhe reglons and neLwork).

7. Show beneflLs Lo Lhe audlence of Lhe 88C
uslng Audlence MaLerlal Lo dlspel Lhe ldea
LhaL lL ls 'cheap flller'. Lxamples could
lnclude: hlghllghLlng how news sLorles
generaLed by Lhe audlence have resulLed ln
lnvesLlgaLlons whlch mlghL oLherwlse noL
have happened, demonsLraLlng how new
sLorles generaLed by Lhe audlence lmpacLed
awareness of a parLlcular problem aL a
pollcy level, or showlng how Audlence
looLage can slgnlflcanLly lmprove Lhe Lelllng
of a news sLory.

8. Change emphasls from Audlence
CommenLs Lo Audlence ConLenL (dlrecL
experlences, audlo-vlsual maLerlal or
speclflc experLlse).

9. Make fewer requesLs and LargeL requesLs
more carefully. Lncourage sLory ldeas and
lnformaLlon based on dlrecL experlence or
experLlse.

10. lndlvldual programmes should have
lndlvldual Audlence MaLerlal pollcles, based
on Lallored audlence research. Audlences
have varylng levels of enLhuslasm for
dlfferenL Lypes of Audlence MaLerlal.


!"#$%&'((#)
-.)
!

key llndlngs

1he followlng secLlons ouLllne Lhe key flndlngs from
each of Lhe flve sLudles. undersLandably, each sLudy
produced a large amounL of daLa, and Lhls ls avallable
from Lhe auLhors. We recommend you browse Lhese
documenLs as Lhey provlde much more analysls and ln-
depLh explanaLlon of Lhe Lwo audlence surveys, Lhe
focus groups, Lhe newsroom observaLlons and Lhe
conLenL analysls.






kL IINDINGS IkCM 1nL ISCS MCkI
SUkVL


Awareness

66 of respondenLs had seen, read or heard some form
of 'uCC'

8adlo phone-ln commenLs were Lhe mosL well-known
form of lnLeracLlon (43) along wlLh vox pops (24)
(Lhls ls desplLe Lhe survey lnLervlewer clearly explalnlng
LhaL vox pops are 'where members of Lhe publlc are
sLopped ln Lhe sLreeL and asked Lhelr oplnlon by
[ournallsLs'). Cf noLe, 38 of respondenLs sald Lhey had
seen vldeos shoL by Lhe publlc shown ln news
broadcasLs.


news arLlclpaLlon

23 of respondenLs sald Lhey had conLacLed a news
organlsaLlon











72 sald Lhey had never conLacLed a news organlsaLlon.
17 of respondenLs had senL maLerlal Lo a newspaper,
9 Lo a radlo phone-ln, 7 Lo a 1v programme, and 4
Lo dedlcaLed news webslLe.


non-news arLlclpaLlon

42 of respondenLs had conLrlbuLed Lo non-news
formaLs

42 had done aL leasL one of Lhe followlng: voLed on
reallLy 1v show (24), conLrlbuLed Lo a soclal
neLworklng slLe (18), conLrlbuLed Lo anoLher debaLe
webslLe llke a non-news blog or bulleLln board (11),
conLacLed an enLerLalnmenL or sporLs programme (7),
conLrlbuLed Lo vldeo/phoLo sharlng slLe (7).


MoLlvaLlons for sendlng maLerlal

MosL respondenLs sald Lhey were respondlng Lo
someLhlng Lhey had heard or seen on Lhe news

42 sald Lhey had responded Lo someLhlng Lhey had
heard or seen on Lhe news, 34 wanLed Lo brlng a
parLlcular lssue Lo people's aLLenLlon, 23 Lo publlclse
an evenL Lhey were lnvolved wlLh, 19 because Lhey
LhoughL people would flnd Lhelr conLrlbuLlons
lnLeresLlng, 16 because Lhey en[oy parLlclpaLlng ln
debaLes wlLh oLhers, 14 wanLed Lo expose or Lell a
sLory, 11 sald Lhey en[oyed wrlLlng or Laklng
phoLographs. Cf noLe, only 9 menLloned LhaL Lhey
LhoughL news organlsaLlons value conLrlbuLlons from
Lhe publlc and only 4 menLloned Lhe posslblllLy of
maklng money as a moLlvaLlon.


8easons for noL submlLLlng maLerlal

68 respondenLs gave some sorL of explanaLlon relaLed
Lo noL havlng Llme or noL belng boLhered
)
!


-/)
!"#$%&'((#)
!








11 sald Lhey dldn'L belleve Lhey had anyLhlng
lnLeresLlng Lo say. 4 sald Lhey dldn'L Lhlnk Lhe news
organlsaLlon would use Lhelr maLerlal and 3 sald Lhey
would raLher leave [ournallsm Lo [ournallsLs. 3
LhoughL lL would cosL Lhem money.


ALLlLudes Lo 'uCC'
8espondenLs were supporLlve of Lhe audlence havlng a
role ln news ouLpuL


1) 8espondenLs held mlxed oplnlons abouL wheLher
'news maLerlal produced by professlonal [ournallsLs
ls more LrusLworLhy Lhan maLerlal senL ln by Lhe
publlc'. 29 agreed and 33 dlsagreed. (38 had no
oplnlon or 'dldn'L know').
2) 8espondenLs were ln favour of Lhe publlc belng
lnvolved ln produclng Lhe news raLher Lhan '[usL
leavlng lL Lo [ournallsLs'. 61 agreed and 14
dlsagreed. (26 had no oplnlon or 'dldn'L know').
3) 8espondenLs were also ln favour of maLerlal belng
veLLed by [ournallsLs 'ln order Lo malnLaln Lhe quallLy
of Lhe news'. 37 agreed and 6 dlsagreed. (26
had no oplnlon or 'dldn'L know').
4) 8espondenL were also ln favour of 'news
organlsaLlons uslng maLerlal senL ln by Lhe publlc
more now Lhan Lhey used Lo'. 71 agreed and 6
dlsagreed. (24 had no oplnlon or 'dldn'L know').


ClLlzen 8eporLlng
8espondenLs were noL very wllllng Lo send maLerlal
for breaklng news sLorles

lf a respondenL was faced wlLh a large flre and knew Lhe
emergency servlces had been called, only 3 would
conLacL Lhe medla Lo leL Lhem know whaL was golng on.
A furLher 14 woolJ Lake a phoLo buL only 6 would
send Lhe phoLo Lo a news organlsaLlon, and Lhe
remalnlng 8 would Lake a phoLo buL oot seoJ lL Lo a
news organlsaLlon.





1he followlng Lable demonsLraLes Lhe relaLlonshlp
beLween soclal class and awareness of 'uCC'.( See
fooLnoLe below for explanaLlon of soclal class
grouplngs.
20
)

Class
Aware of aL leasL
one form of
Audlence MaLerlal
A 91
8 79
C1 70
C2 39
u 49
L 40
1oLal 601

1here ls also a sllghLly less sLrong, buL sLlll sLaLlsLlcally
slgnlflcanL relaLlonshlp beLween soclal class and
wheLher someone has submlLLed any form of 'uCC'

Class
Submlsslon of aL
leasL one form of
Audlence MaLerlal
A 34
8 34
C1 28
C2 19
u 13
L 11
1oLal 218







!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20
A = Plgher managemenL, admlnlsLraLlve or professlonal, 8=
mlddle managemenL, admlnlsLraLlve or professlonal, C1=
!unlor managemenL, admlnlsLraLlve or professlonal, C2 =
Skllled manual worker, u= seml and unskllled manual worker,
L= unwaged!
!"#$%&'((#)
-0)
!

ln Lerms of llkellhood of becomlng a clLlzen reporLer
21
,
Lhere ls no relaLlonshlp beLween soclal class and
llkellhood of Laklng a phoLograph, buL a clear paLLern ln
Lerms of sendlng Lhe phoLo Lo a news organlsaLlon. 16
of people ln Lhe upper professlonal class would Lake a
phoLo and send lL Lo a news organlsaLlon compared
wlLh 4-7 of people ln Lhe oLher soclal classes.

Class
Would conLacL Lhe
medla abouL a
breaklng news
sLory
Would Lake a
phoLo of a breaklng
news sLory and
send lL Lo Lhe
medla
A 16 16
8 4 3
C1 4 7
C2 3 3
u 4 4
L 3 3
1oLal 43 33
%
lmpacL of AcLlvlsL 1endencles

1here ls a very sLrong relaLlonshlp beLween acLlvlsL
Lendencles and 'uCC'

ln Lerms of awareness, 92 of 'acLlvlsLs'
22
were aware
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"%
!We measured llkellhood Lo become a clLlzen reporLer by
asklng Lhe followlng quesLlon: lmaglne you're on a quleL road
near a Lown cenLre and see a large flre break ouL ln a nearby
facLory. 1here's an exploslon and flames shooL up creaLlng
blllowlng smoke. Assumlng you've phoned Lhe emergency
servlces, whlch, lf any, of Lhe followlng acLlons would you do
a) sLay around Lo see lf you could help b) move away from
Lhe scene c) conLacL a frlend Lo Lell Lhem d) conLacL a news
organlsaLlon e) Lake a phoLo f) Lake a phoLo and send lL Lo a
news organlsaLlon g) none of Lhe above
!
22
8espondenLs were deflned as acLlvlsLs lf Lhey had done
Lhree or more of Lhe followlng: presenLed vlews Lo a local
counclllor, wrlLLen a leLLer Lo a newspaper, urged someone
ouLslde of Lhe famlly Lo voLe, urged someone Lo geL ln Louch
wlLh a counclllor, been an offlcer of an organlsaLlon, sLood for








of aL leasL one form of 'uCC' (compared Lo 38 of non-
acLlvlsLs), and 78 of acLlvlsLs had conLacLed a news
medla organlsaLlon aL some polnL (compared wlLh 13
of non-acLlvlsLs).

ln Lerms of llkellhood of becomlng a clLlzen reporLer:
27 of acLlvlsLs compared Lo 12 of non-acLlvlsLs would
Lake a phoLo of Lhe blaze. Cf LhaL number, 8 of
acLlvlsLs compared Lo 3 of non-acLlvlsLs would Lake a
phoLo and send lL Lo a news organlsaLlon.


lmpacL of Age

1here ls a sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL relaLlonshlp beLween
age and awareness of forms of uCC, buL Lhere ls no
sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL relaLlonshlp beLween age and
wheLher someone has submlLLed uCC or wheLher Lhey
would acL as a clLlzen reporLer


eople aged beLween 33 and 39 are mosL aware (41)
compared wlLh over 60s (33) and under 33s (26).
23 of people who submlLLed were under 33, 40 were
beLween 33 and 39, and 37 were over 60.
)
!

Age does noL seem Lo be a slgnlflcanL barrler ln Lerms of
Lhe llkellhood of Laklng a phoLograph of a news evenL:
39 of Lhe people who sald Lhey would Lake a phoLo of
a flre were beLween 33 and 39, 36 were under 34
years of age and 33 were over 60. Powever, when lL
comes Lo sendlng LhaL phoLo Lo a news organlsaLlon
44 of people who sald Lhey would do lL were under
34, 33 were aged beLween 33 and 39, and 22 were
over 60, so younger people are sllghLly more llkely Lo
send breaklng news fooLage Lo a news organlsaLlon.




!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
publlc offlce, Laken an acLlve parL ln a pollLlcal campalgn,
helped ln a fundralslng drlve, or voLed ln Lhe lasL general
elecLlon.
-1)
!"#$%&'((#)
!









lmpacL of Cender

1here ls no sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL relaLlonshlp beLween
gender and awareness or llkellhood Lo submlL.

1here does appear Lo be a relaLlonshlp beLween gender
and llkellhood Lo conLacL Lhe medla lf Lhe respondenL
saw a flre. uouble Lhe number of men were llkely Lo
Lake a phoLograph of Lhe flre, and slmllarly of Lhose
who Look Lhe phoLograph, double Lhe number of men
would send lL Lo Lhe news organlsaLlon.


lmpacL of newspaper 8eadershlp

1here ls no relaLlonshlp beLween newspaper readershlp
and submlsslon of maLerlal

1hls analysls was carrled ouL uslng newspaper
readershlp as a posslble lndlcaLor of pollLlcal persuaslon
Lo LesL Lhe Lheory ralsed ln Lhe focus groups LhaL 'rlghL-
wlng' people are more llkely Lo submlL maLerlal.



)
)


kL IINDINGS IkCM 1nL CNLINL SUkVL


1he onllne survey was llnked Lo aL varlous places on Lhe
88C webslLe beLween 20
Lh
lebruary and 20
Lh
May 2008.

Lxposure Lo uCC-acLlve audlence members was galned
prlnclpally by Lhe placemenL of 'promos' and 'puff
boxes' on Lhe naLlonal Pave ?our Say slLe, selecLed
reglonal 88C Local slLes and oLher key locaLlons such as
Lhe 88C ScoLland lsland 8logglng homepage. 1he survey
ls based on a self-selecLlng sample of respondenLs so lLs
resulLs may noL be fully represenLaLlve of all of Lhe











slLe's users. neverLheless lL does provlde useful daLa on
a relaLlvely small and hard Lo reach group.


1ype of ConLrlbuLlon

8y far Lhe largesL number of respondenLs descrlbed
Lhelr mosL recenL conLrlbuLlon Lo Lhe 88C webslLe as
'commenL or oplnlon'

8espondenLs were asked speclflcally abouL Lhelr lasL
submlsslon Lo Lhe 88C. 31 of respondenLs' mosL
recenL submlsslons were oplnlon-based. 1hls compares
wlLh [usL 3 who had mosL recenLly submlLLed an
'accounL of an experlence'. 11 had senL ln an
eyewlLness phoLograph or vldeo of a news-relaLed
evenL, and 2 had senL ln an ldea for a news sLory.

AnoLher quesLlon asked Lhem Lo Lhlnk abouL Lhe oLher
occaslons on whlch Lhey had conLacLed Lhe 88C. ln
response Lo LhaL quesLlon, 63 of respondenLs sald
Lhey had submlLLed a 'commenL or oplnlon', 16 had
submlLLed an accounL of an experlence, 11 sald Lhey
had Llpped off Lhe 88C wlLh a news sLory ldea, and a
furLher 9 clalmed Lo have senL ln eyewlLness maLerlal.


ClLlzen 8eporLers?

1he 88C webslLe users who compleLed Lhe survey are
far more llkely Lo acL as 'clLlzen reporLers' lf Lhey were
Lo wlLness a news evenL Lhan members of Lhe general
populaLlon.


Cur Morl survey found LhaL 4 of people would conLacL
Lhe medla Lo leL Lhem know whaL was golng on, and 6
would phoLograph or vldeo an evenL and send Lhe
resulLs Lo Lhe medla when faced wlLh a hypoLheLlcal
newsworLhy scenarlo (a facLory flre ln Lhelr home
Lown). Cur onllne survey, on Lhe oLher hand, found LhaL
40 of respondenLs would send phoLos or vldeo Lo Lhe
88C, and 17 would conLacL Lhe 88C Lo leL Lhem know
whaL was golng on.
!"#$%&'((#)
-2)
!



MoLlvaLlons for submlLLlng maLerlal

1he prlmary moLlvaLlon people sLaLed for submlLLlng
Lhelr conLenL was Lo respond Lo someLhlng Lhey had
seen or heard on Lhe 88C. 1hls suggesLs whaL drlves
Lhem Lo conLacL Lhe 88C ls Lhe wlsh Lo respond Lo
orlglnal 88C conLenL, or Lhe opporLunlLy Lo debaLe wlLh
oLhers, more Lhan Lhe urge Lo submlL orlglnal
newsworLhy maLerlal Lhemselves.

34 of respondenLs 'respond Lo someLhlng l heard or
saw on Lhe 88C' and 39 sald Lhey parLlclpaLed because
Lhey 'en[oyed parLlclpaLlng ln debaLes or conversaLlons
wlLh oLhers'. MoLlvaLlons whlch suggesL Lhe wlsh Lo
conLrlbuLe news maLerlal were clalmed by far fewer
people. 18 sald Lhey conLacLed Lhe 88C ln
order Lo 'brlng a parLlcular lssue Lo people's aLLenLlon'
and 13 'Lo help Lell or expose a news sLory'.


non-news maLerlal

1he ma[orlLy of phoLographlc maLerlal senL ln by
respondenLs was noL relaLed Lo news evenLs

26 clalmed Lo have senL ln non-news plcLures or vldeo
(deplcLlng plcLures of naLure, weaLher, local areas, eLc).
17 sald Lhey had also done Lhls ln Lhe pasL.


LoyalLy Lo Lhe 88C

ConLrlbuLors show slgnlflcanL loyalLy Lo Lhe 88C ln
Lerms of Lhe maLerlal Lhey send

89 clalmed Lhey had no lnLenLlon of posLlng Lhelr
conLenL anywhere else on Lhe lnLerneL, or Lo any rlval
medla organlsaLlons. 1hls loyalLy ls echoed ln Lhe facL
LhaL Lhe fourLh largesL moLlvaLlon for lnLeracLlng we












found (27.9) ls Lhe bellef LhaL Lhe '88C values
conLrlbuLlons from lLs audlence'. 4 of respondenLs
sald Lhey had already posLed, or lnLended Lo posL Lhelr
conLenL Lo anoLher Lelevlslon company, on an lnLerneL
medla sharlng slLe, or soclal neLworklng web slLe. rlnL
news companles were Lhe nearesL rlval Lo Lhe 88C, wlLh
9 clalmlng Lhey lnLended Lo send Lhelr conLenL Lo a
newspaper (onllne or prlnL copy).


!ournallsLs as CaLekeepers

1here was a sLrong feellng amongsL respondenLs LhaL
[ournallsLs should acL as edlLorlal fllLers or gaLekeepers
ln order Lo malnLaln news quallLy

67 of Lhose polled sald Lhey LhoughL 'maLerlal senL ln
by Lhe publlc should always be veLLed by [ournallsLs Lo
malnLaln Lhe quallLy of Lhe news', compared wlLh only
16 who dlsagreed. 1hls compares wlLh slmllar levels ln
Lhe general populaLlon, where 36 of people Lhlnk all
)
!
publlc submlsslons should be veLLed ln comparlson wlLh
[usL 19 who dlsagree.


Should Lhe publlc be lnvolved ln produclng Lhe
news?

1he 88C survey respondenLs were more sLrongly ln
favour of publlc lnvolvemenL ln Lhe news Lhan members
of Lhe general populaLlon

43 sLrongly agreed, and 43 Lended Lo agree wlLh Lhe
sLaLemenL 'l Lhlnk lL ls a good Lhlng LhaL news
organlsaLlons are uslng maLerlal senL ln by Lhe publlc
more Lhan prevlously', compared wlLh 17 and 33
respecLlvely ln Lhe represenLaLlve survey. Slmllarly, 30
sLrongly agree, and 44 Lend Lo agree wlLh Lhe
sLaLemenL, 'l Lhlnk lL's good for Lhe publlc Lo be lnvolved
wlLh produclng Lhe news, raLher Lhan leavlng lL Lo Lhe
[ournallsLs', compared wlLh 13 and 48 ln Lhe
represenLaLlve survey.

.3)
!"#$%&'((#)
!









news ConsumpLlon?

8espondenLs are heavy consumers of news and currenL
affalrs medla

Cnly 16 of respondenLs consume less Lhan one hour's
worLh of news per day, compared wlLh 84 who
consume more Lhan one hour of news (43 spend
beLween one and Lwo hours, 19 spend beLween Lwo
and Lhree hours, and 21 spend more Lhan Lhree hours
a day consumlng news).


newspaper preference?

MosL respondenLs read newspapers on a dally basls

82 of respondenLs read newspapers dally. 36 of
respondenLs read a naLlonal broadsheeL, 13 read a
local newspaper, 11 read a mlddle-brow newspaper
(uolly Moll or uolly xptess), 9 read an
lnLernaLlonal newspaper and 6 read a Lablold
newspaper and 4 read a free newspaper.

Cf Lhose who read a naLlonal newspaper, 43 read a
rlghL leanlng newspaper (uolly 1eleqtopb, uolly Moll,
uolly xptess and 1be 5oo), 27 read a lefL-leanlng
paper (1be CootJloo and 1be loJepeoJeot) and 28
read a paper wlLh more cenLrlsL edlLorlal poslLlon (1be
1lmes, 1be lloooclol 1lmes, 1be Metto).


uemographlc 8ackground

1he demographlc background of respondenLs ls
more dlverse ln Lerms of age and gender Lhan Lhe
overall numbers of people who have submlLLed
maLerlal Lo a news organlsaLlon (accordlng Lo Lhe
lpsos MC8l survey).












1he hlghesL proporLlon of conLrlbuLors of onllne
Audlence MaLerlal naLlonwlde ls men beLween Lhe ages
of 23 and 34. Cur sample ls older, and ls far more
evenly spread beLween age groups (only 12 are aged
23-34, whereas 23, 24, and 22 respecLlvely are
aged 33-44, 43-34, and 33-64). Cur represenLaLlve
survey showed LhaL acLlve 'uCC'-acLlve men ouLnumber
women by a raLlo of 7:1, buL ln Lhls sample 34 of
respondenLs were women compared wlLh 64 of men.


Soclo-economlc Class

1he class backgrounds of Lhose who responded are noL
dlverse

As wlLh our represenLaLlve naLlonal poll, Lhose who
responded Lo Lhls survey are clusLered around
advanLaged soclo-economlc groups. 39 of
respondenLs were A, 8, C1s, compared wlLh only 21 of
C2, u, Ls (20 chose 'oLher' or opLed noL Lo answer Lhls
quesLlon).
!"#$%&'((#)
.*)
!






kL IINDINGS IkCM 1nL ICCUS GkCUS

1here ls wldespread appreclaLlon of Lhe use of
eyewlLness audlo, phoLographlc and vldeo maLerlal ln
88C news, across plaLforms

eople llke lL because: lL ls lmmedlaLe, and allows early
coverage before news Leams can be on Lhe scene, lL
adds drama, human emoLlon, and lmmedlacy, lL ls seen
as more 'real' and less 'packaged', provldlng dlfferenL
perspecLlves and lnslghLs on evenLs, someLhlng whlch
some see as addlng Lo Lhe LrusLworLhlness of Lhe news,
lL faclllLaLes coverage of evenLs and locaLlons dlfflculL Lo
reach normally, and because lL can be seen as a way of
democraLlslng news producLlon.

1hls bellef by audlences LhaL Audlence looLage ls
addlng LrusLworLhlness Lo Lhe news, and an opporLunlLy
Lo geL a 'real' sense of whaL ls happenlng, away from
[ournallsLlc fllLerlng, ls ln dlrecL opposlLlon Lo Lhe
[ournallsLs' concerns abouL Lhe auLhenLlclLy of Audlence
looLage. 1he audlence appears Lo have llLLle concern
for Lhese lssues ln comparlson Lo Lhe [ournallsLs.
)
!


1here are slgnlflcanL barrlers Lo wldenlng
parLlclpaLlon

AppreclaLlon of eyewlLness maLerlal ls Lempered by a
cerLaln scepLlclsm, and Lhere are a number of
conslderable barrlers boLh Lo lLs full publlc accepLance
and Lo more wldespread parLlclpaLlon by non-'uCC'
acLlve audlence members

)
)
Many are concerned LhaL: such maLerlal ls ofLen of poor
quallLy boLh ln Lerms of Lechnology and Lhe
professlonal sLandard of amaLeur reporLlng, care should
be Laken Lo sLrlke a balance beLween professlonal and









non-professlonal lnpuL lnLo news coverage, use of
cheap (or free) amaLeur conLenL ls a cosL-cuLLlng
exerclse, and LhaL Lhe numbers of professlonal
[ournallsLs mlghL fall as a resulL of lLs conLlnued use,
news values mlghL be skewed by Lhe avallablllLy of
vlsually lmpresslve maLerlal LhaL ls noneLheless noL very
newsworLhy, clLlzen reporLers should noL be LreaLed as
Lhough Lhey were experLs, growlng use of eyewlLness
'uCC' mlghL lead Lo lncreased lncldences of hoaxes and
Lhe publlcaLlon of lnauLhenLlc conLenL.

Many people do noL see Lhemselves as poLenLlal
conLrlbuLors

1here are a number of reasons for Lhls: Lhere ls
wldespread lgnorance abouL how Lo conLacL Lhe 88C
(by phone, LexL or e-mall), cerLaln demographlc groups
lack Lhe Lechnlcal ablllLy and confldence ln Lhelr use of
Lechnology such as compuLers, dlglLal cameras, and
moblle phones, Lhe lasL Lhlng Lhey would Lhlnk abouL
dolng when faced wlLh an exLra-ordlnary evenL would
be fllmlng or phoLographlng lL, Lhey ofLen assume LhaL
somebody else would have done LhaL already.

Supposed moLlvaLlons for submlLLlng boLh eyewlLness
and oplnlon-based 'uCC' are ofLen framed negaLlvely by
oLher audlence members

lmaglned conLrlbuLors are characLerlsed varlously by
focus group members as: unlnformed and lnarLlculaLe,
publlclLy seekers looklng for exposure, holdlng exLreme
and ofLen unpalaLable vlews, and bored or lonely
people wlLh Loo much Llme on Lhelr hands.


Concerns LhaL Audlence MaLerlal ls belng framed
as represenLaLlve when lL ls noL

A slgnlflcanL mlnorlLy of focus group sub[ecLs
complalned LhaL when Audlence MaLerlal ls used,
)
)
!
Lhere ls ofLen Lhe lmpllclL assumpLlon LhaL lL represenLs
publlc oplnlon more wldely, desplLe Lhe
facL lL ofLen ls noL and/or cannoL be Lruly represenLaLlve
.+)
!"#$%&'((#)
!









ALLlLudes Lowards Pave ?our Say and oLher 88C
web forums

1here was a wldespread feellng among Lhe focus group
respondenLs LhaL Pave ?our Say, and oLher 88C web
forums for publlc commenL, oplnlon and debaLe have a
number of flaws


1) 1here ls no percelvable 'real-word' ouLcome or
effecL as no-one lnfluenLlal ls readlng Lhe
commenLs. 1hls was parLlcularly Lhe case wlLh
younger members of Lhe focus groups,
2) 1he slze of Lhe P?S forum makes meanlngful
debaLe very unllkely and makes lL very dlfflculL
Lo navlgaLe,
3) 1here were complalnLs (malnly from Lhose over
Lhe age of 33) LhaL Lhey pay for Lhe servlce
Lhrough Lhe Llcence lee buL have nelLher Lhe
wlsh nor Lhe Lechnologlcal experLlse necessary
Lo parLlclpaLe, and
4) 1here were complalnLs LhaL lL lncludes Loo
much unlnformed oplnlon, a facL whlch ls seen
Lo Lrlvlallse serlous lssues.

Many see smaller, programme speclflc blogs and
message boards as preferable Lo P?S because Lhey are
more easlly navlgable and more lnformaLlon-rlch due Lo
belng based around communlLles of lnLeresL.


8eslsLance Lo Lhe use of unsubsLanLlaLed
commenLs and oplnlons

1here ls some reslsLance Lo Lhe use of LexLs and e-malls
from Lhe publlc formlng parL of Lhe ouLpuL on news and
currenL affalrs programmes


uesplLe some people valulng Lhe facL Lhe 88C wanL Lo
know whaL Lhe publlc Lhlnk, Lhere are many: who see
Lhe use of vlewer LexLs and e-malls as unedlfylng 'flller',








who
Lhlnk lL ls of llLLle use conLrlbuLlng because so few are
acLually read ouL on alr, are susplclous of Lhe process of
edlLorlal selecLlon, fearlng LhaL only Lhose who flL a pre-
concelved edlLorlal 'agenda' are chosen, and who are
concerned abouL Lhe lll-consldered, lnexperL naLure of
Lhe commenLs, and fear LhaL openlng up serlous lssues
Lo Lhls klnd of publlc response mlghL make llghL of
Lhem.


ercelved moLlvaLlons of Lhe 88C for uslng
Audlence MaLerlal

lL was common Lo hear LhaL ln calllng for Audlence
CommenL, Lhe 88C does noL acLually care whaL Lhe
publlc Lhlnks, buL ls lnsLead only lnLeresLed ln qlvloq tbe
lmptessloo LhaL lL values Lhe oplnlons of Lhe audlence


non-news maLerlal

Cplnlon on Lhe use of non-news audlence conLenL ln
news and currenL affalrs ouLpuL (such as phoLographs of
naLure, eLc) ls dlvlded, malnly, alLhough noL excluslvely,
along age llnes


1hose who llke such conLenL value lL as a pleasurable
and relaxlng break ln-beLween ofLen very serlous and
hard-hlLLlng news lLems, en[oy Lhe opporLunlLy Lo vlew
Lhe work of amaLeurs on 1v or onllne, and appreclaLe
Lhe pleasure lL affords Lhose who produce Lhe
phoLographs Lo see Lhelr work publlshed on a hlgh-
proflle 88C plaLform. ueLracLors are ofLen voclferous ln
Lhelr crlLlclsm, seelng lL as: 'polnLless' and 'borlng',
ofLen of poor quallLy, lnsubsLanLlal 'flller' maLerlal,
evldence of 'dumblng down', and ofLen presenLed ln a
paLronlslng way whlch deLracLs from Lhe serlousness of
Lhe news lLems whlch precede and follow lL.
!"#$%&'((#)
.,)
!


SLrengLhs of CollaboraLlve ConLenL

lnLervenLlon-based approaches Lo audlence conLenL are
a proven way of reachlng under-represenLed groups
such as audlence members from lower soclo-economlc
groups, and Lhe elderly





kL IINDINGS IkCM 1nL NLWSkCCM
C8SLkVA1ICNS


1he followlng lssues are a mlxLure of lssues ralsed by
[ournallsLs, and from observaLlons by Lhe research Leam
abouL Lhe mosL presslng lssues ln Lerms of 'uCC' from
Lhe perspecLlve of Lhe newsrooms.

rob|emat|c nature of the term 'UGC'

1here was no flxed deflnlLlon of 'uCC' amongsL
[ournallsLs.

1here were 6 dlfferenL Lypes of 'uCC' belng used ln 88C
newsrooms: Audlence ConLenL (lncludlng Audlence
looLage, Audlence Lxperlence, Audlence SLorles),
Audlence CommenL, CollaboraLlve ConLenL, neLworked
!ournallsm, and non-news ConLenL.

D|fferent ercept|ons and usage of UGC |n the
Nat|ons]keg|ons compared to the Network

)
)
1he naLlons and 8eglons already have a sLrong
relaLlonshlp wlLh Lhelr audlence, and Lhere are
numerous examples of lnnovaLlve pracLlce (communlLy
buses, communlLy Leams, communlLy reporLers).












1he naLlons and 8eglons have been uslng 'uCC' Lype
formaLs for a long Llme buL are now uslng Lhe Lerm
'uCC' Lo explaln/[usLlfy whaL Lhey are dolng.

1here are a slgnlflcanL number of lnLeresLlng, lnnovaLlve
uses of 'uCC' ln Lhe naLlons and 8eglons LhaL should be
celebraLed and encouraged, and should noL be
overlooked.

ercept|ons of [ourna||sts

MosL news [ournallsLs see 'uCC' ln newsgaLherlng
Lerms raLher Lhan as a Lool for wldenlng parLlclpaLlon.

Some [ournallsLs (mosLly older [ournallsLs) do noL Lhlnk
of 'uCC' as new, and belleve lL ls slmply older
[ournallsm Lechnlques wrapped up ln new Lechnology.

'1he ub||c']kepresentat|veness

!ournallsLs need Lo ensure LhaL Lhe lssue of self-
selecLlon ls Laken lnLo accounL aL all Llmes.

When uCC ls broadcasL lL musL noL be lmplled, elLher
expllclLly or lmpllclLly LhaL Lhe vlews are represenLaLlve
of elLher Lhe audlence or Lhe 8rlLlsh publlc.

Issues wh|ch newsrooms have a he|ghtened
awareness of potent|a| prob|ems re|ated to 'UGC'

!ournallsLs are aware of Lhe followlng lssues
surroundlng Lhe use of Audlence MaLerlal, and flnd
ways of managlng Lhem:
*Lnsurlng accuracy by conslsLenLly verlfylng sources
and lmages
*Conslderlng lmparLlallLy by 'balanclng' oplnlons where
necessary
)
!
*Managlng Lhe relaLlonshlp wlLh Lhe audlence, when
noL all maLerlal can be broadcasL or publlshed
*Managlng Lhe volume of maLerlal by aLLempLlng Lo
Lallor requesLs
*Lnsurlng quallLy ls noL undermlned when uslng
Audlence MaLerlal
*Lnsurlng auLhorlLy of 88C ls noL undermlned
*Lnsurlng LhaL LrusL ln Lhe 88C ls noL undermlned
.-)
!"#$%&'((#)
!







1echno|og|ca|]Awareness rob|ems

!ournallsLs need Lo be aware LhaL noL all audlence
groups submlL uCC because of dlfferences ln access Lo
Lechnology, dlfferences ln ablllLy Lo use Lechnology, and
lgnorance abouL ways Lo submlL maLerlal. newsrooms
need Lo flnd ways Lo combaL Lhese barrlers.

Age, Soc|a| C|ass and Lducat|on

!ournallsLs need Lo ensure LhaL all audlence groups are
encouraged Lo submlL uCC and ensure LhaL Lhe
Audlence MaLerlal whlch ls broadcasL and publlshed ls
relevanL and lnLeresLlng Lo as many audlence groups as
posslble.






kL IINDINGS IkCM 1nL CCN1LN1
ANALSLS


ConLenL Analysls 1 (SelecLlon of flagshlp
programmes)

Sample erlod: Monday 11 lebruary 2008-lrlday 13
lebruary 2008
13 programmes analysed from 1elevlslon and 8adlo
(neLwork and 8eglonal (88C Wales))
AmounL of Llme analysed: 103 hours and 33 mlnuLes

kequests and Subm|ss|ons

1he average number of submlsslons used was 4.82 per
hour. 1here were four programmes whlch exceeded
LhaL average. 3 of Lhese were radlo programmes:
!eremy vlne (by some margln aL 20.20 per hour), 83
8reakfasL (9.17 per hour) and 83 urlve (6.27 per hour),











and one Lelevlslon programme, Lhe early evenlng
8eglonal news programme woles 1oJoy (8.26 per
hour).

1here were a LoLal of 91 requesLs for uCC durlng Lhe
codlng perlod. 46 on Lelevlslon (1.87 per hour) and 43
on radlo (0.33 per hour). Cn average, across plaLforms
Lhere were 0.82 requesLs an hour. 1he Lwo programmes
whlch were slgnlflcanLly above average were Wales
1oday (8.26 per hour) and Lhe laLe reglonal news
bulleLln of Wales 1oday (8.00 per hour). !eremy vlne
(2.10 per hour), Welsh 8reakfasL bulleLlns (1.43 per
hour) and 88C 8reakfasL (1.42 per hour) were all above
average.

1op|cs

1he Loplcs llnked wlLh Lhe requesLs and Lhe Loplcs
where uCC was used were mlxed. lor requesLs, Lhe
mosL common Lype of requesL was a general requesL for
submlsslons (16) , closely followed by domesLlc
pollLlcs(13), weaLher (13) and healLh (12). lor
lndlvldual submlsslons, 17 of submlsslons used were
on flnance, buslness or economlc, 12 were on crlme
lssues, 11 were on sporL and 10 on healLh lssues (a
furLher 18 were on 'oLher Loplcs' whlch weren'L llsLed
under our broad headlngs).

Where UGC was used

Cverall, 1v was mosL llkely Lo use 'uCC' as commenLs
read ouL aL Lhe end of a sLory, whereas radlo was more
llkely Lo use lL wlLhln Lhe package of a sLory (for
example sLarLlng a dlscusslon abouL a Loplc and asklng
callers Lo phone ln wlLh Lhelr vlews).

Cf Lhe 1v coded, 39 of Lhe 'uCC' used were lnsLances
of when Lhe sLory was an ldea whlch came from 'uCC'.

1e|ev|s|on

1here was a slgnlflcanL dlfference beLween reglonal and
neLwork Lelevlslon.
!"#$%&'((#)
..)
!

Cn neLwork Lelevlslon, 30 of Lhe 'uCC' was used aL
Lhe end of Lhe sLory and was read ouL by Lhe presenLer.
21 were examples where Lhe sLory had been lnsplred
by 'uCC'. 13 of Lhe examples were when 'uCC' was
lncluded ln Lhe package and a furLher 13 were when
'uCC' was used Lo pose quesLlons Lo guesLs.

Cn reglonal 1v, 76 of 'uCC' used was when Lhe sLory
was lnsplred by Lhe audlence. 18 of Lhe examples
were used ln a package, a 6 were read ouL aL Lhe end
of Lhe sLory

kad|o

1here were only Lhree examples of 'uCC' ln reglonal
radlo and all of Lhem were used as lnLervlews wlLh
guesLs. Cn neLwork radlo, 67 were used wlLhln Lhe
package of Lhe sLory, 13 were sLorles lnsplred by uCC,
12 were quesLlons posed Lo guesLs, and 8 were
commenLs read ouL aL Lhe end of sLorles.

1ypes of 'UGC' used

8adlo overwhelmlngly uses general commenLs or
oplnlons senL ln by Lhe publlc (84). ln conLrasL, 1v ls
more llkely Lo use commenLs whlch come from dlrecL
experlence of Lhe Loplc (33) wlLh anoLher 24 belng
made up by general commenLs or oplnlons by Lhe
publlc. lL ls noLeworLhy LhaL on reglonal 1v, Lhere were
no general commenLs or oplnlons. 1he only commenLs
read ouL were from people wlLh dlrecL experlence of
Lhe Loplc (73). 1he oLher 23 of uCC ouLpuL were
weaLher phoLographs.

1ype of UGC kequested

1here were 91 segmenLs when uCC maLerlal was
requesLed, and generally only one Lype of uCC was
requesLed. 61 requesLs were for general commenLs or
oplnlons, 22 (for requesLs on 1v) were for
phoLographs or plcLures, 13 were for quesLlons for
guesLs, 13 were for sLory suggesLlons.











8reaklng Lhls down furLher, on radlo, Lhere was a
requesL for a commenL or oplnlon every 2 hours and 10
mlnuLes, and on Lelevlslon lL was every 1 hour and 20
mlnuLes (Lhls hlgher frequency ls a resulL on Lhe sLaLlc
and Llcker graphlc whlch allowed for requesLs Lo be
made).

1he leasL frequenL requesL ln sLory suggesLlon requesLs
on radlo, whlch happened once every 26 hours and 29
mlnuLes.

Iormat of UGC kequested

Cn radlo, Lhere was one expllclL requesL for commenLs
by phone every 2.3 hours, by LexL every 6 hours and 13
mlnuLes, by emall every 3 hours.

Cn 1v, Lhere was one expllclL requesL for commenLs by
phone every 3/4 hour, by LexL every 1 hour and 13
mlnuLes, by emall every 40 mlnuLes.

Iormat of UGC Subm|ss|ons Used


1he orlglns of 46 of Lhe submlsslons was noL clear,
31 were from LexL, 11 were from emall and 3 were
from Lhe Lelephone, 4 were phoLos.

Average 1|me spent us|ng Aud|ence Mater|a|


1he average requesL Llme was 14 seconds (16.2 seconds
on radlo, and 11 seconds on Lelevlslon).

1he average broadcasL Llme of a segmenL whlch uses
uCC was 71 seconds (79 seconds on radlo and 43
seconds on Lelevlslon).
!



./)
!"#$%&'((#)
!








ConLenL Analysls 2 - news 24

Sample erlod: Monday 21
sL
!anuary 2008 - Monday
11
Lh
!anuary 2008
AmounL of Llme analysed: 90 mlnuLes each day over 3
weeks Lo bulld up a sample of 24 hours

kequests

191 requesLs ln 24 hours: 189 requesLs were 'graphlcal'
requesLs (6 were sLaLlc graphlcs and 183 were requesLs
on Lhe Llcker). 2 were 'verbal' requesLs
by Lhe presenLer (one was a general requesL and one as
a requesL llnked Lo a parLlcular sLory)

1he average lengLh of a requesL was 19 seconds
MosL requesLs lncluded reference Lo emall address,
phone number (97 each), LexL number of webslLe
address (82 each)
82 of requesLs were Ceneral 8equesLs
18 of requesLs were llnked Lo Lhe Maln Peadllnes
1 was a speclflc requesL Lo send commenLs abouL a
crlme sLory
!
Use of Aud|ence Mater|a|

Audlence MaLerlal used 7 Llmes ln Lhe 24 hour
perlod.
3 were dlrecL experlences of Lhe sLory (4 were vldeos
used ln Lhe package, and one was an emall)
2 were oplnlons whlch were recelved vla emall

ConLenL Analysls 3 - llagshlp WebslLes

1here ls a greaL degree of dlfference beLween Lhe
webslLes of Lhe flagshlp news programmes across Lhe
88C. 1hls ls clearly down Lo resource allocaLlons, as
malnLalnlng up-Lo-daLe busy webslLes whlch ellclL
Audlence MaLerlal ls very Llme-consumlng.

1he 'uCC' Pub ls Lhe mosL sophlsLlcaLed by far and
durlng Lhe week analysed, 38 debaLes were open (some
were sLarLed before Lhe perlod and analysls and some
were closed afLerwards). 1hose debaLes recelved








42,626 commenLs, 27,077 were publlshed, and 1,936
were re[ecLed (as Lhey broke house rules).

neLwork webslLes offered far more opporLunlLy for
lnLeracLlon Lhan Lhe reglonal ones we analysed. 1he
webslLes llnked Lo Lhe 88C Wales news programmes
(boLh 1v and 8adlo) had very baslc llnks for Audlence
MaLerlal, relylng on a 'ConLacL us' llnk asklng audlence
members Lo send LhoughLs Lo Lhe news Leam.

1here were lnLeresLlng Lypes of audlence conLrlbuLlon
occurrlng: 88C 8reakfasL had a famlly posLlng a blog on
susLalnable llvlng for a year, llve Llve urlve feaLured a
monLhly newsleLLer wrlLLen by Lhe Audlence LdlLor, M
had frequenL blog posLs wrlLLen by Lhe presenLer Lddle
Malr, Lhe !eremy vlne show publlshed a large number
of llsLener commenLs, and Lhe 1oday show had a faclllLy
for asklng audlence members Lo send ln sLory
suggesLlons (whlch are subsequenLly llsLed on Lhe slLe).

1here were cases where programmes dld noL broadcasL
very much Audlence MaLerlal buL dld faclllLaLe lLs
publlcaLlon on Lhelr webslLe. lor example, durlng Lhe
week analysed, Lhe 1oday show had one requesL for
Audlence MaLerlal, and read ouL Lwo commenLs.
Powever, on Lhe webslLe Lhere were seven new
debaLes and slx ongolng debaLes wlLh 737 commenLs
posLed.
24
ln addlLlon, Lhere were 34 sLory suggesLlons
posLed.

Lddle Malr's M programme was slmllar: Lhere was 1
requesL durlng Lhe week and 4 submlsslons read ouL on
alr, buL Lhe webslLe ls very lnnovaLlve and has a number
of feaLures whlch encourage audlence members Lo
conLacL Lhe programme and commenL on Lhe
programme and Lhe Loplcs feaLured on alr. ln conLrasL,
88C 8reakfasL, whlch relled heavlly on Audlence
MaLerlal, had very llmlLed opporLunlLles for Audlence
MaLerlal on Lhelr webslLe. !eremy vlne relled very
heavlly on Audlence MaLerlal on hls programme, buL
also publlshed a number of vlewer commenLs on Lhe
webslLe.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
24
lL should be noLed LhaL Lhe 1oJoy Message board no longer
exlsLs.!
!"#$%&'((#)
.0)
!


1haL Lhese dlfferences beLween webslLes are a
consequence of varylng resource-allocaLlon ls clear

from our lnLervlews. lor example, lnLervlews aL Lhe 88C
8reakfasL newsroom showed how webslLe conLenL has
been reduced slgnlflcanLly because Lhere was no longer
a slngle dedlcaLed member of sLaff responslble for web
conLenL. Slmllarly, Lhe demographlc make up of Lhe
audlence plays a role. 1he 1oday programme and M,
boLh broadcasL on 8adlo 4 have clearly found LhaL Lhe
audlence wlll respond onllne, and as a resulL have
deslgned Lhelr webslLe Lo accommodaLe Lhelr
audlence's wlshes.

.1)
!"#$%&'((#)
!
Arts and numan|t|es kesearch Counc|| - Lach year Lhe
AP8C provldes approxlmaLely 100 mllllon from Lhe
CovernmenL Lo supporL research and posLgraduaLe
sLudy ln Lhe arLs and humanlLles. ln any one year, Lhe
AP8C makes approxlmaLely 700 research awards and
around 1,000 posLgraduaLe awards. Awards are made
afLer a rlgorous peer revlew process, Lo ensure LhaL only
appllcaLlons of Lhe hlghesL quallLy are funded. ArLs and
humanlLles researchers consLlLuLe nearly a quarLer of all
research-acLlve sLaff ln Lhe hlgher educaLlon secLor. 1he
quallLy and range of research supporLed by Lhls
lnvesLmenL of publlc funds noL only provldes soclal and
culLural beneflLs buL also conLrlbuLes Lo Lhe economlc
success of Lhe uk. www.ahrc.ac.uk

88C Iuture Med|a & 1echno|ogy focuses on whaL
comes nexL for Lhe 88C ln Lerms of Lechnology and
servlces. 1he deparLmenL concenLraLes on lnnovaLlve
plaLforms and conLenL and ls lnvolved ln Lhe
developmenL of search, navlgaLlon, meLadaLa, on-
demand, moblle and web based appllcaLlons lncludlng
Lhe emerglng 88C l-layer on demand servlce and Web
2.0 lnlLlaLlves, as well as Lhe 88C Cpen Archlve. lM&1
alms Lo keep Lhe CorporaLlon on Lhe cuLLlng edge of Lhe
lndusLry aL a Llme where Lhe boundarles beLween
producers and audlences are fasL dlsappearlng and Lhe
enLlre landscape of Lhe large scale broadcasLer ls
changlng dramaLlcally.

1he AP8C/88C knowledge Lxchange rogramme ls led
from wlLhln Lhe 88C by Lhe lnnovaLlon CulLure Leam.
lnnovaLlon CulLure provldes a cenLral supporL resource
for a wlde range of 88C dlvlslons, maklng lL more
effecLlve Lo underLake collaboraLlve work. lL forges
parLnershlps ouLslde Lhe 88C as well as lnLernally
enabllng Lhe Lransfer of ldeas, knowledge and
proLoLypes lnLo Lhe buslness. 8y encouraglng besL
pracLlce across Lhe whole of Lhe 88C's luLure Medla
and 1echnology (lM&1) dlvlslon, of whlch 88C 8esearch
and lnnovaLlon ls parL, Lhe Leam brlngs a sLraLeglc
overvlew Lo a range of lnnovaLlon Lechnlques. lL also
drlves forward a varleLy of early sLage research pro[ecLs
ln key sLraLeglc areas, brlnglng a user cenLered deslgn
approach Lo emerglng Lechnology pracLlce.









hLLp://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/knowledgeexchange
1he 8log ls Lhe place Lo go for any new announcemenLs,
ouLpuLs, muslngs from Lhe kL Leam. 1here wlll also be
posLs from pro[ecL parLners lnvolved wlLh Lhe currenL
round of funded pro[ecLs.

hLLp://beebac.welcomebacksLage.com.
beebac ls Lhe onllne knowledge neLwork for Lhe 88C
and academlc communlLy . lL ls a place Lo flnd
llkemlnded lndlvlduals and a resource for ldeas, pro[ecLs
and people. lL enables you Lo flnd people and pro[ecLs
you wanL Lo be lnvolved wlLh, explore areas of muLual
lnLeresL and exchange ldeas and resources.

AnkC]88C kL Contacts:
8owena.goldman[bbc.co.uk
8rendan.crowLher[bbc.co.uk
Adrlan.woolard[bbc.co.uk
[.pollock[ahrc.ac.uk
s.amor[ahrc.ac.uk