Communicative Action and Citizen Journalism: A Case Study of \u3cem\u3eOhmyNews\u3c/em\u3e in South Korea

Drawing on Habermas’s theory of communicative action, this case study of OhmyNews in South Korea examines how citizen journalism operates in a broad organizational and social context. Through in-depth interviews with professional and citizen journalists, the study reveals that citizen journalism can be well understood at the intersection between the lifeworld and systems. Specifically, the study finds a coexistence mechanism by which citizen journalism competes, collaborates, coordinates, and compromises with professional journalism through communicative action, such as mutual understanding, reason-based discussion, and consensus building

U.S. Newspaper Editors’ Ratings of Social Media as Influential News Sources

Social media, as one key platform for citizen journalism, are becoming a useful news-gathering tool for journalists. Based on data from a nationwide probability sample of newspaper editors in the United States, this study investigates the extent to which newspaper editors consider social media an influential news source. Results show that variations in editors’ ratings of social media as a news source were related to multiple levels of influence, including professional journalistic experience, organization size, community structural pluralism, and citizen journalism credibility. Implications are discussed for the roles of social media in news production

Community Service: Editor pride and user preference on local newspaper websites

Armed with readily accessible online traffic logs that provide detailed information about the items users are selecting to view, editors are voicing concern about the potential effect on their own content decisions. Through a survey of local British newspaper editors, this article examines the overlap between user preferences, as suggested by assessments of website traffic, and content that editors identify as their best. Results are considered in the context of two related subsets of agenda-setting theory, as well as the sociological process of “making news.” The study finds overlap between broad categories of stories preferred by editors and users, but a considerable disconnect over the nature of the items within those categories

[Accepted Article Manuscript Version (Postprint)] Citizen Journalism Practice Increases Civic Participation

Drawing on the theory of reasoned action, this study examines direct and indirect effects of citizen journalism on civic participation. Through a quasi-experimental design, analyses show that citizen journalism practice has a direct effect on civic participation and enhances attitudes toward nonprofi t and voluntary organizations leading to volunteering and donating behavioral intentions