Social media, ugc and its impact on mainstream media

Social media, UGC and its impact on mainstream newsReuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Nic Newman

1: This is not a fad

This is not a fad

This is not a fad

This is not a fad

2: Mainstream news organisations are waking up to social media

• Telling better stories

• Getting more engagement

• New way of distributing content

Motivations of traditional news organisations

Where are news organisations focussing their efforts?

The old style battles over

News organisations adopting social media, but on their own terms

The old style battles over – debate has moved on

How does the BBC need to respond?

1. Agree a core strategy for social media sites (eg Twitter) and how this should relate to the BBC’s other onsite participation initiatives

2. Appoint or identify a senior editorial figure to co-ordinate activity and best practice across the journalism family (or at least within BBC News)

3. Embark on a comprehensive training course to raise awareness of the benefits and dangers of social media tools in journalistic practice

4. Identify appropriate metrics to track and understand success

5. Identify mechanisms to ensure all the above are well co-ordinated and that initiatives receive appropriate reward and attention