Webb Dialogues (4): Lotta Holmström (CitizenMediaWatch.com)
The development of citizen-generated media seems to be growing exponentially (it wasn’t until emailing with Lotta, that I realized how little traditional media information I gather - much to do with me not owning nor wanting a television *radiotjänsten, if you’re listening in…*). Today, it seems development has grown so far in many arenas the line between traditional media sources and those created by “average Joe� is narrowing by the day. Each of them one wanting to be more like the other, so as the web and this phenomenon continue to skyrocket, it would be much advised to tune in to Citizen Media Watch. We’d also like to “raise our hat� to the work Lotta has put into it, a great combination of quality and quantity. Let’s see where that energy comes from…
1. Can you share a brief background on yourself, your work, etc..
When studying to become a journalist in the mid-90s, I knew I wanted to work with the web. At the time, this was almost unheard of, and the program at JMK (Stockholm University school of journalism, media and communication) had three choices when it came to specialization: print, radio and tv. Also when it was time for our practical studies, not a single web edition was on our list of workplaces to apply to. It took a lot of nagging to even be allowed to apply to a workplace not on the list.
But once I got permission, my first choice, which was Aftonbladet.se, was only too happy to have me, and after my practical studies asked me to stay on. At the time (early 1997) we were about eight people working there. Now, ten years later, we’re well over a hundred. It’s been a tremendous journey.
So my background is journalistic but my focus has been the web from day 1. I’ve been blogging/writing an online journal since early 1998, have been running a bunch of sites as hobby projects (Skriva.net, poetrywall.com and frostwriting.com to name a few that are still operational to some extent) and had a weblog of sorts at Aftonbladet around 1999/2000, called “Surfdagbok� (surf diary), where I gave tips of cool or interesting websites, and people could comment on the tips.
Today, after having done just about anything a web journalist can do (and some programming work as well), I work as Readers’ Editor, still at Aftonbladet.se. The job encompasses most aspects of bringing the readers in as active participants on the site.
2. Can you give your perspective on citizen media and the aspects which have infused your interest…
I am a blogger at heart. If I had to choose between calling myself a journalist and calling myself a blogger, there’s no doubt where my identification lies. I’ve always loved the interactive aspects of the web. The citizen media development is largely a fulfilling of the promise the web gave when I started out exploring it way back in 1995. It’s about flattened structures, transparency and participation. Communication across borders – physical and imagined ones. It is about democracy at its core. These are fancy words, but I really do believe in them.
As Dan Gillmor so famously said, “the public knows more than the journalist�. Working as a journalist with that at the back of your mind can be either frightening or exciting. The third alternative, keeping your mind shut to the idea, isn’t even an option in this day and age. I want to create a journalistic environment in which people will be as excited about this development as I am. And I want to create a site that citizens are happy to turn to with all their creativity and join in the fun. That is the big challenge.
3. Looking at the future of newspapers, how do you envision the development of the relationship between newspapers and other contributors?
The relationship must become much more of a dialogue, or multi-part conversation. Already citizens have been changing journalism since the birth of the web, even when their words haven’t been published. 15 years ago it was still possible to publish something that wasn’t correct and more or less get away with it. Today that isn’t so. Within a minute there would be an email in the editor’s inbox pointing out the mistake, and if the paper still didn’t do anything about it, the word would be spread all over the net. Sites like Avigsidan that publish traditional media’s errors, which often have an unintended humoristic effect, are great sources for improving your news site (and for a good laugh).
The next step is welcoming the users to participate. At Aftonbladet we’ve been doing this for quite some time through polls (I actually did the programming for the first “snabbfrågan� quick poll) and forums, but the agenda for those are still set by the journalists. What’s so exciting about the citizen media development is that the participants can set the agenda. Anyone can start a discussion or a blog and bring an issue into focus, especially if a large enough number of other people join in and start discussing the forum/blog post and linking to it. By covering blogs and bringing extra attention to some blog posts, media sites can nurture this conversation and make sure these active participants are being read.
4. Are there any other significant trends we can expect amongst citizen and publication in the near future?
There are two pretty distinct trends that I think we’ll see a lot more of in the upcoming year: Local and mobile material.
Already there’s a big hype about hyperlocal citizen media sites, bringing the web2.0 close to home, to focus on neighbourhoods rather than cities. I think this is great, but I’m not sure all these sites will survive in the long run. The important thing is the citizens’ wants and needs. Do we want to discuss which of the local pizza places is the best, why there’s rubbish on the ground that nobody’s picking up or if we feel safe at night in our neighbourhood? And do we want to discuss these things on the web?
Do we have lots of things in common with our neighbours? I don’t know, since my feeling is I might not – but that can only speak for me. I’m much more happy about not having to care where the people I call my friends on the net live in the physical world, being able to focus on our mutual interests instead. The great thing is that these aren’t conflicting vantage points – you can have both.
With the rapid development of better and better cellphones with clever functionality, I think we’ll be seeing them used as a communication platform not only one on one but many to many. I’m already a Twitter addict, and that’s just a kindergarten level of service for mobile interaction. Geotagging will also be big.
5. As usual, we find it interesting to hear what blogs/personas who’ve got marked in your RSSreader. Any influential people that you keep you’re eye on?
The great thing is that anyone can be influential, isn’t it? ; )
At the moment I’ve got 218 feeds in my reader, many of them focused on citizen media, but also other media news, gadgets, blogs on creative writing, photography, IT, and a bunch of blogs of friends and acquaintances.
I regularly read 26 Swedish blogs that cover citizen media to some extent, and around 70 international ones.
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