3. today’s agenda: what is crowdsourcing ? crowdsourcing vs collaboration how to tips free online tools q&a look for this presentation at: slideshare.com/wendynorris/newsfeed @wendynorris [email_address]
4. what is crowdsourcing ? a method for harnessing specific information from a large, diverse group of people what it’s not tip line polling / surveys rumor mongering citizen journalism user generated content newsroom job killer
5. crowdsourcing vs collaboration reporter control community-assisted information-centric narrow focus equal partnership inter-newsroom production-centric broad focus Reputation boost: Both strategies enable you to build deeper, stronger community relationships. there are also some key differences
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18. what not to crowdsource potential criminal activity secret/sensitive documents targets private citizens use your best judgment fails to meet group size / diversity requirements polarizing topics highly niche subjects micro-target demographics
19. crowdsourcing tips make it fun frame project as larger public service discrete, straightforward tasks set a reasonable time for task completion overlap tasks for fact checking give immediate feedback encourage retweets/shares/likes post-publication follow up
Key points: Better results with specific question than an open-ended one which results in too many responses. Research in collective intelligence demonstrates: Diverse groups of people are better than individuals at solving problems and filtering out inaccuracies.
Community engagement binds these strategies but there are key differences. Crowdsourcing is collaborative but not every collaborative endeavor involves crowdsourcing. Let’s look at some case studies.
Andy Carvin NPR’s social media strategist. Follow @acarvin Curating, verifying and reporting Arab Spring stories from Twitter using Storify. Asked followers to help confirm authenticity of alleged photo of Yemeni President Saleh. Crowd of photoshop experts and health care professionals concluded picture was fake. Also debunked A Gay Girl in Damascus.
The New York Times, Washington Post and Mother Jones among several outlets posted trove of Sarah Palin’s emails. Asked readers to examine contents. Caution: This exercise runs counter to research on task specificity and crowd diversity (highly partisan).
Amanda Michel asked ProPublica readers to call their congressional representatives about attending the Super Bowl either to fundraise or as guest of lobbyist. Fun project. Easy to do and easy to document.
New program on Al Jazeera is using social media to integrate undercovered stories and signal trends into a live TV show. The discussion included the propriety of the Vancouver law enforcement crowdsourcing the identity of Stanley Cup rioters. http://stream.aljazeera.com/episode/6780
Domestic terrorist network for anti-abortion story
Created network of organizations linked to militant groups identified by law enforcement and national security experts as domestic terrorists.
Spot.us
Spot.us, Emphas.is and Kickstarter are among several crowdfunding sites to help support local journalism projects. Spot.us recently announced that it has attracted more than 10,000 contributors for stories pitched on its site.
Size and diversity of group is critical to hear broader perspectives (obvious) and filter out inaccuracies (20+ years of research)
Never underestimate the power of social proof in motivating people to help.
After the 2007 assassination of Oakland reporter Chauncey Bailey, a coalition of nearly three-dozen Bay Area news outlets, freelancers, J-School students and local/national media organizations formed to continue his work and investigate his murder. The man who ordered the hit was convicted of Bailey’s murder on June 10, along with two associates. Also see: http://mije.org/chauncey-bailey-project-journalistic-collaboration
http://www.cpt12.org/news/
Community-based health and wellness information site managed by the Lawrence Journai-World. Content is largely user-generated by local health and wellness experts and very relevant to the local community. A sister site on sustainability issues launched last month.
The Colorado Independent partnered with The Coloradoan and Pubelo Chieftain on a Open Meetings violation lawsuit against Colorado State University. By pooling our resources to coordinate a legal strategy, we were able to resolve the issue more effectively and cost efficiently.
St Louis Beacon partnered with the Missouri History Museum on two year-long series: on race and another on class. The partnership resulted in museum exhibits, reporting, and public events designed to spark a much-needed dialogue.