‘Crowdsourcing’ investigative journalism at Gannett

Posted by Martin Stabe on 4 November 2006 at 17:45
Tags: Journalism

Newsquest’s US parent company Gannett is hoping to “crowdsource” information from volunteer reporters in the community as it rolls out “the newsroom of the future” at its American regional newspapers.

A memo from Gannett chief executive Craig Dubrow describes the new “information centres” as platform agnostic hubs that deliver material to print, online, mobile, video, or other media yet uninvented. The papers that implement the information centre model will prioritise local news over national news, place greater emphasis on encouraging user-generated content, and attempt to use the best platform available for every type of journalism they do.

The most interesting aspect of Gannett’s venture, though, its its ambition to harness “crowdsourcing” to distribute complex investigations among volunteers in the community. Nobody wants to read long investigative stories online, Gannett found, so rather than presenting investigations as a final, polished outcome, papers invited its readers to become part of the investigative process.

In a piece for Wired magazine, Jeff Howe (who coined the term) examined how crowdsourcing worked when The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida, enlisted its readers’ aid for an investigation into the high cost of connecting new properties to water and sewage pipes:

Readers spontaneously organized their own investigations: Retired engineers analyzed blueprints, accountants pored over balance sheets, and an inside whistle-blower leaked documents showing evidence of bid-rigging.

“We had people from all over the world helping us,” said [News-Press editor Kate] Marymont. For six weeks the News-Press generated more traffic to its website than “ever before, excepting hurricanes.” In the end, the city cut the utility fees by more than 30 percent, one official resigned, and the fees have become the driving issue in an upcoming city council special election.

On his blog, Crowdsourcing.com, Howe has far more information about on this project of crowdsourcing in journalism.

Gannett is not alone in toying with the idea of open-source, distributed journalism. “crowdsouring” has echos of NewAssignment.net, the open-source journalism initiative initiated by journalism professor Jay Rosen of New York University. This week, NewAssignment.net launched its blog, which will be worth watching over the next few months.

Tags: Journalism