Attempting to uphold the gates There remain a number of journalists who are against the use of UGC. Many journalists believe that the allowing UGC of any form devalues the brand of the publication (Singer & Ashman, 2009). The journalists are wary of any potential influence UGC might have on what professional journalists write (Singer & Ashman, 2009). This is because the journalists feel a sense of responsibility for upholding standards through gate-keeping and believe that since amateurs do not have the same professional standards as journalists UGC will not be of sufficient quality (Singer & Ashman, 2009). Some media outlet that do publish UGC make numerous attempts to moderate through editing and fact checking submitted content, which results
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Finances represent a sizable portion of any business, and there are still those who attempt to limit the audience’s access to information online based on financial reasons (Taneja, 2013). This attitude could be more pronounced at community news outlets because, the editors of community media are more concerned about revenue than those at larger publications (Donhue, Olien, & Tichenor, 1997). An argument can be made that gate-keeping decisions have traditionally been made, at least to some degree, based on financial considerations (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980; Soroka, 2012). The use of UGC in print at community newspapers has allowed the publication to cover or photograph something they would not have been able to otherwise due to staff limitations (Lewis, Kaufhold, & Lasorsa, 2010). Research has shown, at least at some community media outlets, that editors make decisions about what to publish based upon some influence from the expectations their advertisers have and the fear of alienating the community and therefore the publication’s subscribers (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980). Community media cannot exist without advertisers or subscribers (Kennedy, 1974); therefore, it would be counterintuitive to anger and alienate these constituencies. While these economic considerations relate primarily to the print product, it can easily be conceived that …show more content…
The creation and how to use websites at community media seems to be a point of contention among researchers. Weekly newspapers have been disappointed by the results of operating a news website with a small staff (Adams, 2008). This may stem from insufficient planning because nearly half of weekly newspapers did not develop a business plan for their website prior to establishing it (Adams, 2008). Yet ignoring the Internet cannot be part of a successful long-term business plan for community newspapers; these outlets must follow their customers to the Internet (Abernathy, 2014). At the same time, the added costs of creating and maintaining websites come as community media must shed legacy costs and find new revenue streams to remain profitable (Abernathy, 2014). Lauterer noted that community media have the ability to participate in the Web without significant financial investment
Finances represent a sizable portion of any business, and there are still those who attempt to limit the audience’s access to information online based on financial reasons (Taneja, 2013). This attitude could be more pronounced at community news outlets because, the editors of community media are more concerned about revenue than those at larger publications (Donhue, Olien, & Tichenor, 1997). An argument can be made that gate-keeping decisions have traditionally been made, at least to some degree, based on financial considerations (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980; Soroka, 2012). The use of UGC in print at community newspapers has allowed the publication to cover or photograph something they would not have been able to otherwise due to staff limitations (Lewis, Kaufhold, & Lasorsa, 2010). Research has shown, at least at some community media outlets, that editors make decisions about what to publish based upon some influence from the expectations their advertisers have and the fear of alienating the community and therefore the publication’s subscribers (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980). Community media cannot exist without advertisers or subscribers (Kennedy, 1974); therefore, it would be counterintuitive to anger and alienate these constituencies. While these economic considerations relate primarily to the print product, it can easily be conceived that …show more content…
The creation and how to use websites at community media seems to be a point of contention among researchers. Weekly newspapers have been disappointed by the results of operating a news website with a small staff (Adams, 2008). This may stem from insufficient planning because nearly half of weekly newspapers did not develop a business plan for their website prior to establishing it (Adams, 2008). Yet ignoring the Internet cannot be part of a successful long-term business plan for community newspapers; these outlets must follow their customers to the Internet (Abernathy, 2014). At the same time, the added costs of creating and maintaining websites come as community media must shed legacy costs and find new revenue streams to remain profitable (Abernathy, 2014). Lauterer noted that community media have the ability to participate in the Web without significant financial investment