EXPERIMENTING WITH USER-GENERATED CONTENT IN JOURNALISTIC PRACTICES: adopting a user-centric storytelling approach during the covid-19 pandemic coverage in Latin America

Abstract

– Many scholars have recognized the benefits that user-generated content (UGC) can bring to news publications. In this context, the coverage of the pandemic has undoubtedly forced news outlets around the world to embrace such content to present relevant information during this time. To understand how Latin American outlets are exploring UGC in news reporting, we proposed an exploratory study that includes a devised observation of 80 news websites and their social network channels between April and August 2020. During this period, we conducted a systematic observation to analyze how these outlets open spaces for the public and experiment with integrating user content into their news processes. Our findings suggest that the majority of the observed portals have punctually adopted UGC with minimal engagement. However, the pandemic disrupted interesting experiments regarding the integration of UGC into news creation that generate innovative forms of storytelling.RESUMO – Muitos acadêmicos têm reconhecido os benefícios que o conteúdo gerado pelo usuário (CGU) pode trazer para as notícias. Nesse contexto, a cobertura da pandemia, sem dúvida, forçou os meios de comunicação de todo o mundo a adotar esse tipo de conteúdo para apresentar informações relevantes durante esse período. Para entender como os veículos latino-americanos estão explorando o CGU em reportagens, propusemos um estudo exploratório que inclui uma observação planejada de 80 sites de notícias e seus canais de rede social entre abril e agosto de 2020. Durante esse período, conduzimos uma observação sistemática para analisar como esses veículos abrem espaços para o público e experimentam integrar o conteúdo do usuário em seus processos de notícias. Nossos resultados sugerem que a maioria dos portais observados adotou CGU pontualmente com envolvimento mínimo. No entanto, a pandemia promoveu experimentos interessantes sobre a integração de CGU na criação de notícias que resultaram em formas inovadoras de storytelling.RESUMEN – Los estudios académicos han reconocido los beneficios que el contenido generado por el usuario (CGU) puede aportar a las noticias. En este contexto, la cobertura de la pandemia sin duda ha obligado a los medios de todo el mundo a adoptar este tipo de contenido para brindar información relevante durante este tiempo. Para comprender cómo los medios latinoamericanos están explorando el CGU en la cobertura de noticias, proponemos un estudio exploratorio que incluye la observación de 80 sitios web de noticias y sus redes sociales entre abril y agosto de 2020. A lo largo de este período, hicimos una observación sistemática para analizar cómo estos medios abren espacios para el público y experimentan la integración del contenido del usuario en sus procesos de noticias. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la mayoría de los portales observados adoptan puntualmente el CGU con un compromiso mínimo. Por otro lado, la pandemia ha disrumpido algunos experimentos interesantes de integración del CGU en la creación de noticias que generaron formas innovadoras de storytelling.

Collaborative Journalism from a Latin American Perspective: An Empirical Analysis

“…Our data show that most collaborations are conducted among news outlets and practitioners, but there are some collaborations with two or more types of organisations, such as communities and universities. The data also show that almost half of the news organisations are actively collaborating with communities, showing the potential of participatory journalism in the region (Gruszynski Sanseverino and de-Lima-Santos 2021). A recent study on data journalism showed the interest of data journalists in relying on the public to build "alternative" sources of data, especially in forgotten communities (de-Lima-Santos and Mesquita 2021b).…”

Geojournalism, data journalism and crowdsourcing: The case of Eco-Nai+ in Nigeria

“…Participatory journalism involves involving the public in news content creation, soliciting feedback, comments, and contributions from the audience (Borger et al, 2016; Bowman and Willis, 2003). User-generated content is also a part of participatory journalism (Jönsson and Örnebring, 2011), marking a bottom-up perspective with minimal editorial oversight (Sanseverino & de-Lima-Santos, 2021). Citizen journalism, often interchangeable with these terms, focuses on delivering accounts of significant events, issues, or figures that hold significance for audiences.…”

“…The concept of the “wisdom of crowds” or crowdsourcing harnesses collective knowledge and diverse perspectives to improve decision-making, shifting news media from one-way to two-way communication (Surowiecki, 2005). Despite limited adoption of audience-centric approaches in the news industry (Sanseverino and de-Lima-Santos, 2021), exceptions like La Nación ’s reciprocal journalism in Argentina (Palomo et al, 2019) and digital outlets in Brazil involving peripheral audiences demonstrate its potential (de-Lima-Santos and Mesquita, 2023).…”