Citizen journalists will always miss the Bell

In a column posted on LA Observed, Ellen Alperstein argues that "citizen" journalists missed the Bell salary scandal precisely because it's the kind of story only professional journalists would pursue (even if it takes them a while to get around to it). Here's an excerpt:

Even though citizen journalism is a wonderful addition to the collection and dissemination of news and community development, it isn't going to replace the kinds of stories people need with regularity to expose civil servants gone wild, hold them accountable and effect positive change of a profound and sustained nature.

There was a lot in the first L.A. Times story about Bell you could have found out yourself. But you're not going to, and neither is anybody else who doesn't have the financial support of a publisher willing to fund the effort society requires to make informed decisions and protect public resources from egregious misappropriation. This isn't new, and you're tired of hearing it and what it costs. But it bears repeating because malfeasance never sleeps and because people who live free don't know what they have until they don't have it.

Meantime, the whole "hyperlocal" movement contends that it can find better stories than the crumbling mainstream media. Let's look at a couple stories from AOL's WestHollywoodPatch, which has paid writers. The links were passed on to me by a West Hollywood friend who claims he suffered a brain injury trying to read them:

West Hollywood Gets Its Groove
Q & A: Fire Capt. Fred Selmo

Bloggers and the corporate muddle

Whether one agrees with premise that journalism should be objective, or at least impartial, I doubt many would disagree that it should be free of corporate sponsorship. That is the realm of PR, and we wouldn't want to bigfoot.

Which is the reason I get queasy when Internet triumphalists push citizen journalism as the journalism 2.o. Tale a look at this description of a 2009 BlogHer convention in Chicago, where mommy citizen journalists got a chance to meet their biggest fans:

"Mommy bloggers were in the majority, and marketers such as GM, Walmart, Nikon, PepsiCo and Suave were pulling all the stops to woo us," reported Mile High editor Amber Johnson on her own blog. "Many women were gracious and grateful; others were not. One woman even allegedly threatened to blackmail a Crocs rep when he ran out of free shoes."

As stomach turning as the episode is from a journalist's standpoint, it's important to remember that blogging is not de facto journalism. ("Journalism" itself has a hazy and evolving definition.) Neither should this incident make us dismiss journalism done by people not on someone's payroll. But at some point, the case has to be made that if we don't define some standards for the new journalism and get the public to pay for it, then corporations will fill the void and it will be them dominating the discussion one product placement at a time.

Role of the fixer

The death of Sultan Munadi has drawn attention to the important role local "fixers" play in helping foreign journalists cover foreign wars.

Munadi, who worked with the New York Times in Afghanistan, was killed in a gun battle on Wednesday as British commandos attempted to rescue him and New York Times correspondent Stephen Farrell from their Taliban captors. Farrell survived.

New Yorker writer George Packer, who reported extensively on the Iraq war, shines some light on the work fixers do and how foreign bureaus rely upon their cultural, historical and linguistic knowledge.

The relationship between fixers and foreign correspondents can be very close. Shared dangers and successes will do that, especially when the work done together, the tie between you, is what puts you at risk. In Iraq and Afghanistan and a growing number of other places, the foreign correspondent would be a target with or without the fixer, but the fixer is a target because he or she is with the foreign correspondent. Both are considered spies, but one is only an infidel, while the other is something worse—an apostate, a traitor. In my experience, this mutually voluntary risk is rarely a source of resentment on the part of fixers. They are generally young, cosmopolitan, quick-witted, stoical, tinged with idealism, implacable foes of their countries’ extremists; and, after all, they understand better than anyone what they have signed up for. For the most part, the risk strengthens the bond. It becomes a cause of tension only when it’s borne by just one side.

New York Times reporter David Rohde knew Munadi and wrote a remembrance of him for the paper here. Rohde was also captured by the Taliban and later escaped along with his fixer:

The death of Mr. Munadi illustrated two grim truths of the war in Afghanistan: vastly more Afghans than foreigners have died battling the Taliban, and foreign journalists are only as good as the Afghan reporters who work with them.

Munadi wrote about some of his own experiences at the Times' War blog:

Being a journalist is not enough; it will not solve the problems of Afghanistan. I want to work for the education of the country, because the majority of people are illiterate. That is the main problem facing many Afghans. I am really committed to come back and work for my country.

Journalism and the public interest

American Public Media, which producer Marketplace and other public radio shows, has a job opening in Los Angeles for something called a "public insight analyst." The job entails gauging public opinion through the use of surveys, meetings and games to shape news coverage.

Here's how the listing describes it:

The analyst job involves using many tools - from knowledge management and database software to interactive games and public meetings – and applying news judgment to turn public insight into coverage.

The hybrid PR-news position stems for Minnesota Public Radio's Public Insight Journalism initiative, which helped launch the Center for Innovation in Journalism.

The CIJ sounds a little like the community journalism movement of old, except with more sophisticated tools. Here's CIJ what it has to say about traditional newsers:

Yet most newsrooms still operate with a "we know best—and we'll tell you what you need to know" model. That world is vanishing and taking the audience with it.

What do you see?

The Lede blog at the New York Times is crowdsourcing the 2004 inspector general's report that details abuses in the CIA's detainee interrogation program.

"I'm not dead yet!"

Earnings are up at the largest newspaper companies, beating back predictions - and some hopes - of utter doom in the industry. This is good news if you read a newspaper, better still if you work for one. It may also turn down the volume on some of the social media experts who think their version of change is inevitable.

As Howard Weaver at Ethaoin Shrdlu puts it:

Many of the people predicting the imminent death of printed news or counseling companies to shutter newspapers and spend all their money on the web are drinking their own bathwater. They have a vision – many times a clear and compelling vision – of what the shift to a digital, networked world will look like, but they’re in danger of leaping to conclusions that aren’t there.

I don’t believe untrained or unpaid volunteers alone can produce the kind of journalism on which democracy depends. I believe most people want and value good filters to separate signal from noise – and the best way we’ve ever found to do that is with professional journalists.

Weaver himself makes a leap, predicting that death of objectivity and an end to the role of news organizations as gatekeepers:

Transparency and fairness remain achievable goals; combined with the new plethora of views and opinions, that may be enough to support a consensus reality and common vocabulary for public affairs.

Find me the "consensus reality" on health care reform, Obama's birth certificate or racial profiling and I'll give you a pony. Also, does anyone think institutions of power, faith and money plan to surrender their roles as gatekeepers and speakers of "objective" truth? Isn't this the reason why journalists attempt to remain "objective" in trying to distill competing viewpoints into an impartial analysis?

Anyway, back to the financial picture. Alan Mutter makes the important point that these higher earnings follow steep one-time cuts and adjustments. To rebound, newspapers need advertising dollars to rebound, because there's little left to trim. There's also the fact that readers aren't going to subsidized substandard papers:

Newspaper readers, who by definition are among the most thoughtful members of society, are perceptive enough to know they are paying more today for newspapers that deliver far less news and advertising than ever before. They are doing so, to the extent they are doing so, in the hopes they can help the industry survive.

But their patience will not be infinite. If newspapers can’t find a way to do better by their readers, they are in danger of slashing themselves to oblivion.

OurLA gets underway

Former LA Daily News editor Ron Kaye has formally launched his Our LA website - a beta version has been up for several weeks now. From Kaye's email message:

At OurLA, you will be the reporters and bloggers. You will create forums and help evolve the site into the one place on the Internet where all the important news of LA can be found and quickly accessed.

OurLA is a nonprofit run by myself without salary and a by a small number of paid and volunteer professionals. With your help we will manage the site by bringing together available content from community websites and blogs and the mainstream as well as provide in-depth stories on important topics.

We will also develop useful databases, a calendar of upcoming events, discussion forums and much more.

Kaye says he has raised some money to get the site going and will raise some more to keep it going. Meantime, he's asked readers/writers/contributors for a list of "all blogs and websites you know of that deal with LA civic and political issues, be they Neighborhood Councils, homeowners groups, issue-oriented organizations, service clubs or whatever else you find useful."

Trying again in Denver

Another post-Rocky Mountain News publication is ready for launch.

The Rocky Mountain Independent, a daily web magazine run by former RMN staff, will make its debut Monday in the Mile High City. The site has enough money to last three months as it prepares a business plan and seeks out advertisers, Independent editors told the Associated Press.

Some of the same staff was involved with the failed InDenver Times, which stalled out in April.

Becerra, I hardly knew ye (Updated from yesterday)

President-elect Obama has reportedly tapped Rep. Xavier Becerra, who happens to be my congressman, for the position of U.S. Trade Representative.

From CQ Politics:

Becerra is weighing whether to give up his House seniority and newly won spot as vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus to take the Cabinet-level post, a source close to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said. But another Democratic source said the job has been offered and accepted.

If the offer was made, I'd guess he'll take the job.

Question: If Becerra leaves, will L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti, a fervent Obama supporter, run for the open seat? Garcetti is up for re-election on March 3 and that could complicate things.

UPDATE: Becerra took the time to write a nice press release congratulating Bill Richardson on his nomination to be Commerce secretary. Interestingly, one of the responsibilities of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is to coordinate policy with the Department of Commerce.

From the press release:

Bill Richardson is an exceptional choice to lead the Department of Commerce as we confront one of the most economically challenging times in our history. Governor Richardson brings a wealth of experience and a keen understanding of today’s global economy to the position. Bill will be a skilled and fierce advocate for the interests of American businesses and workers at home and around the world.

UPDATE II: Becerra will meet with Obama in Chicago and is expected to express some concerns, Politico reports:

California Rep. Xavier Becerra, who’s under consideration to become the U.S. trade representative, is meeting today in Chicago with President-elect Barack Obama. Close colleagues say Becerra, a rising Democratic star in the House, is concerned the job isn’t officially a Cabinet level post and wants assurances about access to Obama.

Fake New York Times

Sewell Chan of the real New York Times has the scoop.

Oh, and a note to newspapers as memorabilia boosters, these papers appear to be collector's items as well:

Alex S. Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a co-author of “The Trust,” a history of the family that controls The Times, said in a telephone interview that the paper should be flattered by the spoof.

“I would say if you’ve got one, hold on to it,” Mr. Jones, a former Times reporter, said of the fake issue. “It will probably be a collector’s item. I’m just glad someone thinks The New York Times print edition is worthy of an elaborate hoax. A Web spoof would have been infinitely easier. But creating a print newspaper and handing it out at subway stations? That takes a lot of effort.”

The cult of buzz*

Ron Rosenbaum has had enough of Jeff Jarvis the grave dancing new media consultant. It's about time, in my humble opinion. I commend anyone interested in the future of newspapers, and news gathering, to read the entire article. Here's a lengthy passage to tide you over:

But Jarvis doesn't seem to recognize distinctions of value. Or to have heard of Gresham's law. (Trash drives out value.) Listen to his blog reaction to the recent bailout/economic meltdown:

Why wasn't the government better at listening to the market? Did it ever ask what it should do? That's not the way government thinks, but it's the way it should learn to think.

Wait, did I get that right? The government should have "listened to the market," the same market that created this debacle and came close to destroying the economy? It's an example of his blind allegiance to the wisdom of the consumer, to quantity over quality and expertise. Everything else is elitism. He's the Sarah Palin of gurus. The crowd is always right.

But what makes him wined, dined, and comped by Dubai to fly to self-proclaimed summits all over the world? It's not just that corporations are dumb enough to waste what's left of stockholders' money to pay for someone to tell them to "listen to the market." No, it's Jarvis' pretensions to guru-hood, his gnomic "laws" and pronouncements. Firing people on the writing side because of the incompetence of the business side is a long tradition in the media business, and Jarvis gives management a New Age fig leaf with which to shift the blame from their own incompetence.

He offers chestnuts like, "The link changes everything," "Stuff sucks" ("Nobody wants to be in the business of stuff anymore. … Google's economy is more appealing"), "Atoms are a drag," and—yes, his contribution to the "X is the new Y" genre—"Small is the new big."

Yeah, down with stuff! Let them eat fake. Sleep in buildings not made with atoms. Everyone should be a new-media consultant, and then we won't need any media at all.

*UPDATE: Jeff Jarvis responds to Rosenbaum - make sure to read through the comments. Also, Simon Owens amplifies on Rosenbaum's column - again, read the comments, where Jarvis makes a surprise appearance.

More trouble with free

Awhile ago I mused most profusely about the ridiculous notion that newspapers would continue to invest in journalism when they're giving away the news for free.

A side effect of not charging for the words writers produce is that owners feel less obligated to pay the writers for their work. Huffington Post is on the vanguard of a new business model, whereby fame is the currency of choice.

HuffPo just blew into the windy city and Kevin Allman is neither impressed with the work nor the fantasy pay scale.

Marketing citizens

An interesting employment ad by way of USC...

An international marketing firm is searching for a "citizen journalist" to star in an unnamed YouTube project (are "branded webisodes" anything like commercials?) that will launch in the fall. The firm, 180 LA*, plans to film this "citizen journalist" (applicants, please provide head shots) preparing a story "from start to finish." I can only imagine the visual possibilities. Important note, "there will be compensation."

Here's the ad in full:

180 LA is looking for a citizen journalist

180 LA is looking for a citizen journalist to be featured in a series of branded webisodes that will be a part of a new You Tube program launching in the fall. The series will chronicle a "Day In The Life Of A Citizen Journalist". The documentary style project will follow one citizen journalist as they prepare a story from start to finish. The piece will be a filmed portrayal of the individual's story - how their passion for citizen journalism fits into their daily lives and the nuts and bolts of how a story comes together. We are looking for videographers, audio journalists, bloggers, activists, or any other internet-based member of the community who actively participates in the collection, interpretation or dissemination of information. The project is a great opportunity for a passionate person to get their message out to millions of people, as well as a chance to gain some exposure.

To be considered, please email a sample of your work, a recent picture to, and a description of the issues that you cover to annparker1229@gmail.com. We will begin work on this project the first week of August with one week of preparation and three days of shooting. There will be compensation. Send any questions to the email listed above.

*What or who is 180 LA? Here's a description from a company press release:

180 ( www.180amsterdam.com and www.180LA.com) is an international creative agency with offices in Amsterdam and Los Angeles. 180 employs 160+ people from over 25 countries. 180's client roster includes adidas International, Sony Consumer Electronics USA, Sony Corporation, MTV, Opel (General Motors Europe), Amstel Beer, Glenfiddich, Omega Watches and Dr. Pepper.

On Off The Bus

The New York Times charts the progress Huffington Post's Off The Bus in covering the presidential campaign. The piece is largely a bio of OTB director Amanda Michel, although Mayhill Fowler makes an appearance. Arianna Huffington calls Fowler the "poster child for ordinary citizens being able to impact the campaign."

The Fox and the Fowler

So, does what Fox did in broadcasting the Rev. Jesse Jackson's candid, if intemperate, remarks about Barack Obama put the media powerhouse in the vanguard of the new media revolution?

'Citizen' labor

A CBS affiliate in St. Petersberg, Florida plans to recruit 20 "lucky" people to become "citizen" journalists for the station. Each person will receive basic training on using a video camera and then will be expected to shoot a minimum of 10 clips suitable for broadcast every three months. They'll get $20 for every clip that's used on the station's newscast or Web site - and nothing for the others. At the end of the year, if they fulfill their mission, they get to keep the camera.

Take the word "citizen" out of the descriptor and what you have are 20 poorly training journalists working part time for slave wages.

Put the word "citizen" back in and you're on the cutting edge of the super democratized journalism 2.0.

Either way, the station gets video for almost nothing.

Gee, I wonder how many other ways we can use the word "citizen" to get people to work for almost free?

But first, here's the release (via Romenesko):

Tampa Bay's 10 is looking for twenty people around the Bay area to help us with a special project. We will teach twenty lucky people how to shoot a video camera, and how to get the video to us here at the station. Here is how it will work:

For one year, these twenty people will agree to send us video stories which we will air on our newscast or post on our web site.

Every three months, shooters will be required to send me ten stories, or clips which I can put on the air.

These clips can be about many different subjects. Things that happen in your community. Anything from bad weather to your childs play at school. Maybe your neighborhood meeting.

Each time you send me a video story that either makes it on the news or on our web site, Tampa Bay's 10 will pay you TWENTY DOLLARS!

If you hold up your end of the deal, after a year, you will KEEP the video camera we assign you.

Tampa Bay's 10 will issue you a video camera, a tripod, a bag for the camera, a battery, all of the necessary equipment to download video into your computer and a bag to store it.

My name is Mitchell Wallace and I will work with this citizen journalist team to get these stories in our newscasts and online.

Maybe I'll hire a few "citizen" painters to redo my living room. I won't plan to pay them, thought. I'll just let them know that I'm offering them a chance get involved in an important communitiy project. And if they do a good job, I'll let them keep the paint brushes.

Fowler power

Should Mayhill Fowler have identified herself as a journalist before reporting Barack Obama's "cling" to guns and religion comment and Bill Clinton's "scumbag" rant?

No, according to Marc Cooper, Fowler's editor at Huffington Post. He commends her ethics to a skeptical Joel Bellman, ethics chair for the LA chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

My two cents: Journalists identify themselves when asking tough question not out of some duty to be polite or show deference, but to ensure that when someone gets got, the story is airtight and above board. It's a rule designed to protect the integrity of the story, not the feelings of the story's subject. You don't want someone saying they were tricked or fooled or quoted out of context when they give up a doozy. You don't want your reporters and editors getting bogged down in explanations and defenses; you want the story to stand on its own.

That's why I see Fowler as a good source, rather than as a journalist. To properly report on what Obama and Clinton said, the reporter must include background and context on how the quotes were obtained and by whom. In other words, Fowler, her politics and her methods, become a part of the story. A reporter who had identified herself first and then recorded Obama's speech or asked Clinton about the Vanity Fair piece could then remove herself from the action and let the words speak for themselves.

Let the citizens do it

LA Observed warned us and now LA Times editor Russ Stanton confirms in an interview with MediaBistro that more staff cuts are likely at his paper.

In the same piece, Stanton says he's "pretty intrigued by citizen journalism."

"I think that there might be a way for us to do it that doesn't give away the hallowed territory of 'who does the journalism.' I think there are ways we can address that. One of the things the site is going to be rolling out over the next couple of months are neighborhood pages that are zip code-centric, and that have crime, real estate, and school test-score data that you can sort and play around with for your local area. And as part of those sites we'll have news from that smaller community, and we'll let users help us fill out that part of the thing."

Friedersdorf on local newspapers

Conor Friedersdorf, a former reporter at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and Pomona College graduate, has an internship at The Atlantic magazine. While regular contributor Megan McArdle is away, he and a few others haven taken over posting on her blog, Asymmetrical Information.

Friedersdorf, an emerging conservative voice in the mediaverse, uses the opportunity to lament the decline of watchdog journalism at the local level and consider whether bloggers can pick up the slack:

I understand that there are hyper-local blogs run by gadflies who can cover some of this stuff. But the institutional support of a newspaper, while not technically necessary for local coverage to thrive, is nevertheless very important. A financially healthy newspaper has some institutional memory, so that when the lone hyper-local blogger goes on vacation, or moves to a new neighborhood, or gets paid off by the local developer, someone is there to continue important coverage.

A healthy newspaper has an attorney on retainer so that when a powerful local threatens a frivolous liable (sic) suit if a controversial story runs, the story gets run -- I've known local news bloggers who uniformly didn't publish such stories when confronted, though they were in the right, because who wants to get sued over their blogging hobby?

The new journalism casts its net

The USC School of Journalism has invited Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, to speak at its May 16 commencement. Here's how she's described on the school's Web site:

In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2006, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

The School of Communication, meanwhile, will hear from actor Geena Davis.