Pete Brown

The relationship between technology platforms and news publishers has endured a fraught 18 months. Even so, the external forces of civic and regulatory pressure are hastening a convergence between the two at an accelerated rate beyond what we saw when we published our first report from this study in March 2017. Journalism has played a critical part in pushing for accountability into the practices of companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, yet newsrooms are increasingly oriented toward understanding and leveraging platforms as part of finding a sustainable future.

There are some of the key takeaways of Amateur Footage: A Global Study of User-Generated Content in TV and Online News Output published by the Tow Center of Digital Journalism.

The aim of this research project was to provide the first comprehensive report about the use of user-generated content (UGC) among broadcast news channels. UGC for the purposes of this report consists of photographs and videos captured by people unrelated to the newsroom, who would not describe themselves as professional journalists.

The research was designed to answer two key questions. First, when and how is UGC used by broadcast news organizations, on air as well as online? Second, does the integration of UGC into output cause any particular issues for news organizations?

Some of the Principle Findings are:

• UGC is used by news organizations daily and can produce stories that otherwise would not, or could not, be told. However, it is often used only when other imagery is not available.
• There is a significant reliance on news agencies in terms of discovering and verifying UGC. The news agencies have different practices and standards in terms of how they work with UGC.
• News organizations are poor at acknowledging when they are using UGC and worse at crediting the individuals responsible for capturing it.
• News managers are often unaware of the complexities involved in the everyday work of discovering, verifying, and clearing rights for UGC. Consequently, staff in many newsrooms do not receive the training and support required to develop these skills.
• Vicarious trauma is a real issue for journalists working with UGC every day -- and it’s different from traditional newsroom trauma.
• There is a fear amongst rights managers in newsrooms that a legal case could seriously impact the use of UGC by news organizations in the future