e uropean e Participation Study and supply of services on the development of eParticipation in the EU Media-hosted eParticipation and the journalistic field Case studies from Europe Médias09, Aix-en-Provence Simon Smith Centre for Digital Citizenship, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK

2 Background Participation has become fashionable: – for problem-solving (wisdom of the crowd) – for legitimisation (decline in trust in institutions like political parties and the media) – for cultural reasons (the intrinsic benefits of participation) Audiovisual and print media use websites to facilitate eParticipation: – changes relationship of journalist and audience – technology adoption means power struggle – problematises professional identities and hierarchies

3 Field theory: questions When do innovations increase or decrease autonomy? Is a 'participative' journalism more or less susceptible to commercial or political constraints? Does eParticipation help outsiders challenge established positions and norms? Why are some journalists more willing/able to “aimer le contact avec son public” (Dupin)? Comment “faire un travail d'assistance à la parole” si on “dépossède tous les porte-parole”? (Bourdieu)

4 Amateurs and professionals

5 Amateurs and professionals

6 Separation and integration

7 Case study 1: Le Monde 'Journal de référence' – strategy of autonomy Blogs an open but 'private' public sphere for reader community Bloggers retain IP rights and editorial control Horizontal debate decoupled from editorial process (except Chroniques d'abonnés) Tailored 'branding' – blogs look personal Separate team of eParticipation (non)journalists

8 Case study 2: SME Low status of journalism in Slovakia – political heteronomy Blogging project aims for journalistic copy Common 'branding' with online newspaper Integration into rubrics Semi-professionalisation (fees for bloggers) eParticipation (non)journalists also blog

9 Case study 3: Channel 4 Commercial British TV – economic heteronomy eParticipation as highly integrated audience monitoring 'Channelling' of eParticipation for maximum influence and relevance Blogs replaced forums in 2009 eParticipation (non)journalists laid off Blogs moderated by newsroom journalists to link to news production

10 Conclusions Boundaries of journalistic field fluid, contested eParticipation journalism amateurised and amateurising Will it become professionalised? Will skills be valorised? Will field re-close? Sanction by plebiscite or by peers? Variety of models, difficult to generalise – Media organisations and journalists adapting eParticipation to logic of own positions