Participatory Journalism

The term participatory journalism describes the phenomenon of audience involvement in the making and disseminating of news within the context of professional news organizations. Around the turn of the 21st century, new online journalistic initiatives popped up that included participation of the audience. Discussion platforms were launched where the audience could give their opinion, such as the BBC web page Have Your Say. News organizations created platforms that allowed news consumers to upload their own material, such as CNN’s iReport and the Spanish newspaper El País’s Yo, Periodista, or provide inside information, such as British newspaper The Guardian’s Guardian Witness and Dutch public broadcaster NOS’s NOS Ooggetuige (NOS Eyewitness). Projects were initiated where audience members could publish stories about events in their local communities, such ...