UGC Status and Levels of Control in Argentine, Colombian, Mexican,

Peruvian, Portuguese, Spanish, US and Venezuelan Online

Newspapers

Austin, 2009

Elvira Garcia de Torres

Lyudmyla Yezers’ ka

Fernando Zamith Nora Paul

Jorge BadilloMabel Calderin

Miladys Rojano

Silvia Martinez Martinez

Janet Rodriguez Martinez

Jose Azevedo

Roberto Igarza

Elvira Garcia de Torres

Lyudmyla Yezers’ ka

Fernando Zamith Nora Paul

Jorge BadilloMabel Calderin

Miladys Rojano

Silvia Martinez Martinez

Janet Rodriguez Martinez

Jose Azevedo

Roberto Igarza

UGC - JournalismBowman and Willis (2004):a form of

participatory journalism

Hermida and Thurman (2008): a process… opportunity to participate or contribute

De Keyser and Raeymaeckers (2008): the sum of participatory and citizen journalism

Wunsh/Vincent and Vickery (2007): publication, creative effort (also adapting) and outside of professional practices

UGC

Citizen Journalism UGC (news reporting)

Participatory Journalism (MSM)

Approach

In this context, we propose to analyze participatory journalism messages taking into consideration the relationship between users and producers as the relationship provides a context in which messages acquire meaning

Framework

Our approach is based in the Interactional view, that looks into verbal and non verbal messages to find out the rules of the relationships

There can be, for example, a pattern of authority/submission or weakness/assistance

Messages

Also, tacit messages and explicit messages on the relationship acquire importance

We found them in the terms of use and privacy policies, the more or less control of the users’ participation, data on participation and so on.

Purpose

In this preliminary approach we seek to explore relational messages in the user- producer relationship regarding control and recognition of UGC

Research Questions

Q1. Are there any patterns in messages regarding UGC? Q2. Do media give visibility to the users contributions? Q3. Is there a correlation between control for comments on journalistic and amateur content?Q4. How far do media get involved in producing a citizen reporter toolkit?

MethodSurvey of 24 websites of Argentine, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain, US and Venezuela

Sample takes circulation in consideration. It is based on circulation audits data and other significant sources when reliable figures are not easily available

Argentine

Argentine

Argentine

Colombia

Colombia

Colombia

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Peru

Peru

Peru

Portugal

Portugal

Portugal

Spain

Spain

Spain

United States

United States

United States

Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela

ParametersThe coding scheme is based partially in Domingo et al (2008)

We put emphasis in The rules The mechanisms of control Recognition of UGC

I.e. Send a picture

Send a pictureFor example, for “Send a picture” in our grid it is possible to code:

Moderator/ moderator on ocassionRegistrationCategoriesConceptualization: what news isTips: how to take a better pictureUndesirable materialReport Abuse Displayed in other sectionsMonetary compensation /on ocassion

Send a pictureUsers have to payPhotos can be sharedPost a commentEditing toolsSpecific rules / Read / AcceptGeneral rules / Read /AcceptGrant license on rightsLicense for adaptationsMinimum age to participateMinors are supposed to have permissionHas to be original work /consent by people

shown/ parents or guardians if minors Right to reject the picture

CR ChannelRulesFormatsWhat “news” isEthicsControlMonetary compensationWarning signals for sensitive materialUnwelcome contentPosibility to publish in other sections/webs/media

Codebook

ReliabilityTest of the codebook (two papers per country) and final versionTest of reliability, as a prior step, before entering the coding processWhen the level of agreement was considered sufficient, the analysis took placeWe decided that each paper would be coded by two analists, in view of the length and the attention it required

CommunicationA wiki was created to facilitate the coordination and communication between the members of the group.

Challenges:Working at different hours along the

dayLanguage barriers

Conclusion 1Results reflect a duality regarding UGC status: there is a wide implementation of

2.0 tools, but the most accepted are those that allow users to work on the

content provided by the newspapers, but not so much the tools to produce

content.

UGC STATUS AR CO ME PE PT ES VE USTOT

News Stories audience-driven hierarchy 2 2 3 1 3 3 3 3 20Stories/Blogs list audience-driven hierarchy on the homepage 2 2 3 0 3 3 3 3 19Reporter blogs 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 18Polls, Live discussion, forum… on the home page 2 2 1 3 3 3 3 1 18Comments embedded in journalist blogs 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 17Comments embedded in journalist stories 2 2 3 1 3 2 2 2 17UGC on the frontpage 2 2 3 0 3 3 2 2 17All blogs are open to comments 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 16Social networking in the stories 1 2 3 1 1 3 1 3 15

Conclusion 2At the same time, recognition of content provided by users is high regarding both the number of options given to them to be contributors to the newspaper and the publication of their contributions in

the front page.

Conclusion 3The most significant pieces in the puzzle of status is who retains the rights over content and if monetary compensation for contributions is given. This is where the real recognition or the status is established in terms of authorship and both were found to provide little in the way of protection or rights for the users’ contributions.

 UGC RIGHTS ON CONTENT ARG COL MEX PER PTR ES VE US TOTInvitation to submit photos 0 0 3 1 2 2 2 2 12

Grant license on rights0 0 1 0 0 2 1 2

6 (50%)

License for adaptations

0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2

5 (41.6%

)Invitation to submit videos 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 2 7

Grant license on rights0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2

5( 71.4%)

License for adaptations

0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1

3 (42.8%

)Citizen Reporter Channel 1 1 2 0 2 1 1 0 8

Grant license on rights0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0

4 (50%)

License for adaptations

1 1 1 0 1 1 1 06

(75%)

Conclusion 4This is significant given that users were generally not asked to explicitly accept the legal terms, that is, the contract, as a step prior to uploading or sending contributions.

Read the rules

Example for “Read the rules” (El Mundo, (Spain)

Acceptance is compulsory to

post a comment

Example for “Accept the rules” ( Clarín, Argentine)

Conclusion 5Control of UGC is exerted though a variety of tools. Some of them require a very active stance by the newspapers, such as moderation, especially when it does not depend on the reporting of abuse by the users. Other means of control are based on more or less strong directions and guidelines (rules, recommendations or prohibitions).

Conclusion 6Newspapers present a high variance

with a majority of papers adopting different strategies depending on the

tool offered.

Conclusion 7Problems arising from participation and attempts to solve them by mechanisms of control based on human resources and/or technology are well known, but

the coordination of the actions regarding UGC in the websites requires further

examination.

Conclusion 8The “citizen reporter channel,” the most

significant feature regarding UGC as participation described here as doing the

job, was adopted by eight out of 24 papers of the sample. The study shows that the citizen reporter toolkit is almost

empty of principles or concepts; we have to explore the differences found by

countries.

Name Newspaper Country

Soy Corresponsal

La Nación Argentine

Yo Público El Tiempo Colombia

Reportero Ciudadano

El Universal Mexico

Yo lo vi Milenio Mexico

Cidadao Repòrtero

Jornal de Noticias

Portugal

Correio do Lector

Correio da Manha

Portugal

Yo, Periodista (El País)

El País Spain

Yo reportero El Nacional Venezuela

Code of ethicsTutorial; tips to write a good story

Citizen reporter channel in La Nación (Argentine)

Regarding Ethics (3 newspapers), principles mentioned in the channels

were Truth (3), Accuracy (1), Freedom from bias (2), Fair Play (1) and Sources should be identified (2).

Conclusion 9

Research on the users´ attitudes, perceptions and activity regarding the

options given by the papers, their knowledge of the legal terms affecting participation and its consequences, as well as privacy policies and rules will contribute to greater understanding of

the structures in the user-producer relationship.

UGC Status and Levels of Control in Argentine, Colombian, Mexican,

Peruvian, Portuguese, Spanish, US and Venezuelan Online

Newspapers

Austin, 2009