Ci a ion: Peña-Fe nández, Simón,
Aina a La ondo-U e a, and I a i
Agi eazkuenaga. 2024. Media ised
Pa icipa ion: Ci izen Jou nalism and
he Decline in Use -Gene a ed
Con en in Online News Media. Social
Sciences 13: 266. h ps://doi.o g/
10.3390/socsci13050266
Academic Edi o s: Dolo s Palau-
Sampio and Pila Sánchez-Ga cía
Recei ed: 21 Feb ua y 2024
Re ised: 22 Ap il 2024
Accep ed: 8 May 2024
Published: 16 May 2024
Copy igh : © 2024 by he au ho s.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Swi ze land.
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A ibu ion (CC BY) license (h ps://
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social sciences
A icle
Media ised Pa icipa ion: Ci izen Jou nalism and he Decline in
Use -Gene a ed Con en in Online News Media
Simón Peña-Fe nández * , Aina a La ondo-U e a and I a i Agi eazkuenaga
Depa men o Jou nalism, Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y (UPV/EHU), 48940 Leioa, Basque Coun y, Spain;
[email p o ec ed] (A.L.-U.); i a i.agi [email p o ec ed] (I.A.)
*Co espondence: [email p o ec ed]
Abs ac : The second gene a ion o web ools shook he jou nalis p o ession app oxima ely wo
decades ago wi h he p oac i e inco po a ion o audiences in o he media. Ci izen jou nalism and
use -gene a ed con en a ose as an objec o in e es due o he democ a ising alue o pa icipa ion
a ibu ed o hem, wi h empowe ed ci izens who could emula e he p o essional and ins i u ional
p ac ises o jou nalis s. Howe e , di icul ies soon came o he su ace, and audience pa icipa ion in
news media began o be limi ed. Wi hin his con ex , his a icle conduc s a c i ical e iew o s udies
on audience pa icipa ion in news media based on a sys ema ic li e a u e e iew. The esul s indica e
ha , in gene al, audiences showed low in e es in he c ea ion o in o ma i e con en and ha hei
pa icipa ion has g own inc easingly p oblema ic. In addi ion, jou nalis s a e e icen as hey de end
hei p o essional ole abo e all else, while company s a egies ha e p io i ised making pa icipa ion
p o i able. Fo his eason, he idea o ci izen jou nalism ha o e s use -c ea ed con en h ough
he media appea s o be a hing o he pas , wi h many cha ac e is ics ha could de ine i as a ailed
inno a ion. The e o e, he ex concludes ha audience pa icipa ion in he media could be de ined
as media ised pa icipa ion.
Keywo ds: audiences; pa icipa ion; ci izen jou nalism; news; media; in e ac ion; social media
1. In oduc ion
In he changing p o essional landscape o jou nalism, new social ac o s coexis wi h
es ablished, o ganisa ional and ins i u ional ac o s ha p oduce, sha e, and dis ibu e news in
an inc easingly complex hyb id media sys em (Chadwick 2013;Belai -Gagnon e al. 2019).
Thus, he second gene a ion o web ools (commonly known as web 2.0) shook he
jou nalis p o ession app oxima ely wo decades ago wi h he p oac i e inco po a ion
o audiences in o jou nalism. Ini ial app oaches (Bowman and Willis 2003;Gilmo 2004)
we e equen ly o mula ed as e i able news u opias (Mosco 2004) ha de ended he
democ a ising alue o pa icipa ion, wi h empowe ed ci izens who could emula e he
ins i u ional and p o essional p ac ises o jou nalis s (Boccia-A ie i 2012) and who would
c ea e messages capable o compe ing wi h hose c ea ed by he news media in hei
day- o-day li es (Rod iguez 2001;A on 2001). Since hen, ci izen jou nalism and audience
pa icipa ion in he media has been a ecu ing subjec o s udy (Domingo e al. 2008;Paulussen
and Ugille 2008;Allan and Tho sen 2009;Bo ge e al. 2013;Peña-Fe nández e al. 2019).
Du ing hese ini ial u n-o - he-cen u y yea s, ascina ion wi h pa icipa o y jou -
nalism and he e e sal o oles in he news model was pa ially due o economic and
c edibili y issues a ec ing he media (Deuze e al. 2007). This was no me ely a echnologi-
cal shi ; a he , i was a new cul u al phenomenon ha ede ined adi ional news spaces in
an a ea whe e he limi s became mo e and mo e blu ed (Lewis 2012). In a digi al economy
in which he dis ibu ion and consump ion o goods and se ices a e inc easingly based on
coope a i e ela ions (Ramella and Manzo 2020), he u u e is opening owa ds in e ac i e
and connec i e news p oduc ion, whe e use s and media would coexis , collabo a e, and
also compe e, in he sha ed ask o building eali y (Deuze 2009).
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266. h ps://doi.o g/10.3390/socsci13050266 h ps://www.mdpi.com/jou nal/socsci
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 2 o 12
The ini ial en husias ic app oaches, which a gued ha hese inno a ions would in-
e i ably and au oma ically cause social change, we e la gely d i en by idealism and
echnological de e minism (La ondo-U e a e al. 2023). Howe e , i mus be emembe ed
ha all inno a ions, in o de o be conside ed success ul, equi e no only achie ing a
echnical ad ance bu also social app op ia ion o hem, ha is, ha ci izens use hem
na u ally in hei li es (Peña-Fe nández e al. 2019).
Indeed, i was his social app op ia ion whe e audience pa icipa ion and ci izen
jou nalism an ag ound. While he idea o pa icipa ion as a d i ing o ce o democ acy
unde s ood ha ins i u ions we e adap able and ha audiences could mobilise i gi en
he oppo uni y (Deuze e al. 2007), almos om he e y beginning, we could e i y ha
he news media was ill-p edisposed o cede con ol o he edi o ial p ocess o audiences
and ha hese audiences also displayed a limi ed desi e o pa icipa e in he news-c ea ion
p ocess (He mida and Thu man 2008;Singe e al. 2011;He mans e al. 2014).
In ecen yea s, his ini ial op imism has been cu sho . The mos usual end in
s udies on pa icipa ion leans owa ds p oblema isa ion (Quand 2018), he dis us i
c ea es amongs media p o essionals, and he sales ocuses o news companies.
Wi hin his con ex , his a icle conduc s a c i ical e iew o s udies on audience
pa icipa ion in news media based on a sys ema ic li e a u e e iew. The objec i e is
o de ine his audience inco po a ion and he limi s ound based on he analysis o he
h ee main ac o s in he p ocess: he audiences hemsel es; he p o essionals; and he
news companies.
2. Ma e ials and Me hods
To d aw up his a icle, we conduc ed a sys ema ic li e a u e e iew (G an and Boo h
2009;Codina 2020a) based on he concep s o “ci izen jou nalism” and “pa icipa o y
jou nalism”, as well as o he simila de ini ions (jou nalism 2.0, open-sou ce jou nalism,
e c.). As a ime ange, he pe iod spanning om 2000 un il 2022 was chosen. The sea ch
encompassed main academic da abases (Web o Science, Scopus) and was comple ed wi h
consul a ions in he Google Schola , EBSCO, and P oQues sea ch engines.
A e he sys ema ic sea ch, he esul s ob ained bo h om quan i a i e da a (numbe
o e e ences ob ained) and om quali a i e da a ( opics add essed in abs ac s and key-
wo ds) we e ca ego ised, ollowing he indica ions o he pano amic e iew echnique o
scoping e iew wi h PRISMA (Codina 2020b).
As T icco e al. (2018) explain, scoping e iews a e a ype o knowledge syn hesis
ha ollows a sys ema ic app oach o map e idence on a opic and iden i y main concep s,
heo ies, sou ces, and knowledge gaps. Likewise, hese ypes o e iews a e use ul o
e alua e he cha ac e is ics, a ie y, and olume o esea ch on a opic and allow us o
summa ise indings om a di e se ange o s udies ha may a y in me hods o disciplines
(T icco e al. 2018).
Following he men ioned sea ch c i e ia, he i s sample was composed o
972 documen s
.
A e applying he c i e ia o adequacy o he opic, ime ange, ype o ex (a icle o book
chap e ) and language, he e iewed selec ion consis ed o 437 documen s. Finally, o he
selec ion o he inal sample, empi ical s udies and esea ch wi h he g ea es academic
impac we e p io i ised. This ex syn hesises he con ibu ions o 125 o hese ex s.
3. Resul s
3.1. Pa icipa ion and In e ac ion
In he beginning, he a en ion d awn by pa icipa ion in he media was closely linked
o i s concep ion as an in insically democ a ic ool. This concep was used in a highly
di e se ashion, al hough Ca pen ie (2016); Ca pen ie e al. (2019) iden i ies wo main
ends in o which hese de ini ions can be g ouped: one wi h a mo e inclusi e na u e
and mo e sociological p o ile, whe e pa icipa ion is unde s ood as any o he me hods o
social in e ac ion; and ano he ha is mo e selec i e and nea e poli ical s udies, whe e
pa icipa ion is unde s ood as a way o sha ing powe .
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 3 o 12
I we ex end hese wo meanings, we unde s and ha , in he b oades de ini ion,
pa icipa ion is he equi alen o in e ac ion, meaning all he ways in which he audience
can in e ac wi h he media and i s con en , om con en selec ion o pa icipa ion in a
su ey o sha ing in o ma ion. The b oades de ini ions o ci izen jou nalism (Goode 2009;
Ga cía-De-To es 2010) lean owa ds his de ini ion. Howe e , i we iew pa icipa ion as
a balance in he sha ed exe cise o powe , i would be limi ed o p oduc i e in e ac i i y
(Ros 2006), meaning he audiences’ capaci y o c ea e con en and ac i ely pa icipa e in
he news-c ea ion p ocess in he media (Deuze 2006;Robinson and Wang 2018).
Unlike o he o ms o ci ic pa icipa ion, he c ea ion o his ype o con en would
be unde s ood as pa icipa ion in he media and no pa icipa ion h ough he media
(Ca pen ie 2011;Ah a 2017), which would imply a pu pose o he han news c ea ion.
The e would be a di e en ia ion be ween he echnology ha allows use s o con ol and
pe sonalise con en and he pla o ms ha allow ci izens o c ea e and dis ibu e con en in
he public discou se o in eg a ed s uc u al pa icipa ion (Pe e s and Wi schge 2014).
In o he wo ds, pa icipa ion could be unde s ood as he mos ad anced way o
in e ac wi h he media, whe e audiences ake on oles usually ese ed o jou nalis s,
while no all o ms o in e ac ion could be conside ed pa icipa ion.
3.2. Audiences’ Lack o In e es and P oblema ic Pa icipa ion
Al hough mo e limi ed han oday, s udies on pa icipa ion in he media ha e a long
his o y (Mendigu en-Galdospin and Canga-La equi 2017;Ma zal-Felici e al. 2021). When
audiences we e empowe ed, his was he beginning o a new s age, when hey began
o e ing use s channels by means o which o make hei oices hea d.
Howe e , i soon became clea ha one o he main obs acles o he de elopmen
o ci izen jou nalism was ha , in gene al, audiences displayed e y li le in e es in he
c ea ion o news con en (Low ey and Ande son 2005;Chung 2008;Ka lsson e al. 2015).
Those who showed in e es we e d i en by he indi idual de ence o ce ain ideas so ha
hey would each he public sphe e o by dissa is ac ion wi h adi ional news media and
he ideas ha hey de ended (La sson 2014).
No wi hs anding, in global e ms, he silence o audiences in c ea ing news con en
has been dea ening (Milioni e al. 2012;Masip 2015). E en hough he media gene ally
o e ed li le space o c ea e news con en (Meso-Aye di e al. 2014;Pan ic 2018), e en in
spaces whe e hey we e gi en a place, e y ew o hese con en s ended up p ospe ing o
enjoying no ewo hy co e age (Sco e al. 2015). Ci izens we e mo e in e es ed in c ea ing
con en ela ed o popula cul u e o hei daily li es han jou nalis ic con en o gene al
in e es (Jönsson and Ö neb ing 2011;Xiang 2019).
Along wi h a lack o mo i a ion, he e was also a lack o p o essional esou ces held
by hose who c ea ed his con en . Conce n o e he weak con en c ea ed by he use s
(Meso-Aye di 2013) includes hei limi ed access o in o ma ion sou ces (Reich 2008) and he
absence o p o essional aining (Kus e al. 2017). These issues can lead o hem inco ec ly
ep oducing p o essional ou ines, which calls in o ques ion hei au ho i y and c edibili y
(Sp inge e al. 2015;K ajewski and Ekdale 2017). All his soon led o he unde s anding
ha ci izen jou nalism was no going o eplace he wo k o he media’s news wo k bu
a he would occupy a seconda y ole (Neube ge and Nue nbe gk 2010;Lacy e al. 2010;
F anque e al. 2011).
Ha ing hus abandoned news-c ea ion ac i i y in he media, he main sou ce o
pa icipa ion mo ed o news commen sec ions. Howe e , expe iences in his a ea we e
o en no posi i e, ei he . On he one hand, exis ing s udies show ha pa icipa ion in
hese spaces lacks delibe a ion (Ruiz e al. 2011;Rowe 2015;Cas ellano-Pa a e al. 2020;
Engelke 2020) and, as acknowledged by he use s hemsel es, on many occasions, i does
no mee ideals o democ a ic pa icipa ion and is a he mo e linked o en e ainmen
(Sp inge e al. 2015). This all leads o doub s ega ding i s public-sphe e na u e (Almg en
and Olsson 2016;Manose i ch and Tenenboim 2017;Suá ez-Villegas 2017).
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 4 o 12
Ye , pe haps he mos dissuasi e aspec and he one ha has ecei ed he mos a en ion
in he ecen li e a u e is he audiences’ p oblema ic ela ion wi h he mos nega i e ways
o pa icipa ion, which conce ns bo h use s (Ebe wein 2019) and he media (F ischlich
e al. 2019). The ules ha had cha ac e ised audience pa icipa ion be o e he In e ne
(iden i y, ele ance, b e i y, au ho i y, en e ainmen , and ci ili y) ga e way o o he s, such
as anonymi y, con on a ion, and ul a-b e i y (Pas o -Pé ez 2012), opening he doo o
unci il discou se, ha e speech (E ja ec and Ko aˇciˇc 2012;Coe e al. 2014;Ha low 2015;Su
e al. 2018), and all o he kinds o excesses unde he cloak o anonymi y (San ana 2014).
Risks a e no limi ed o a lack o ci ili y bu can also be ound in media commen
sec ions, wi h disin o ma ion campaigns o a emp s o in luence public opinion (B aun
and Eklund 2019). This has led he media o ocus pa o hei wo k on con olling hese
commen s (Win e lin e al. 2020), gi en ha he dis epu e hey gene a e has an impac on
co po a e c edibili y and how hey d i e poli ical ac ion (A dè ol-Ab eu e al. 2018).
As a esul , many media ou le s ha e educed hei pa icipa ion sec ions o ha e
en i ely closed hem, di e ing audience pa icipa ion o social media, which has become
he mos usual way o in e ac wi h news media con en (Almg en and Olsson 2016).
Howe e , no all aspec s a e nega i e. Ci izen jou nalis s ha e demons a ed ini ia i e
in acking down hei own s o ies, o e ing i s -pe son es imonies o es imonies based
on hei own expe iences (Reich 2008), and hey help o en ich he public sphe e by o e ing
co e age o al e na i e issues, e en s, and poin s o iew (Nah and Yamamo o 2019). In
his ega d, hey ha e ce ainly helped o aise isibili y o o dina y ci izens in he media’s
eyes since hey a e no limi ed o he use o habi ual sou ces (Neube ge and Nue nbe gk
2010;De Keyse and Raeymaecke s 2012).
Mo eo e , ci izen jou nalism has made aluable con ibu ions o e en s o g ea social
impac (Mano and Mil on 2016;Konow-Lund and Olsson 2017), showing i s abili y o
o e in o ma ion in eal ime di ec ly om he place whe e e en s a e happening (Hänska-
Ahy and Shapou 2013;Hung 2013;Ba anque o-Ca e e o and Meda-González 2015;
Moyo 2015;Mpo u 2016;Odaba¸s and Reynolds-S enson 2018). Fo his eason, we migh
conside ha audiences may pe o m “ac s o jou nalism” (Hol and Ka lsson 2014) in a
complemen a y way o he wo k ca ied ou by he news media.
3.3. Dis us o Jou nalis s and De ence o O ganisa ional Cul u e
Since he beginning, jou nalis s ha e iewed ci izen jou nalism wi h scep icism (Singe
e al. 2011) and conside ed i some hing pe iphe al, which in no case was compa able o
hei own wo k (Vos and Fe ucci 2018). Con ibu ing o his mis us was ha some o
hese use s conside ed ha hei wo k was opposi e o ha o news media, which posed a
ela ionship in e ms o con on a ion (Quand 2018).
As ime passed, some o hese posi ions ha e so ened, and many jou nalis s ecognise
he in e es in use -gene a ed con en o hei daily wo k (Suá ez-Villegas 2017). Al hough,
in gene al, hey s ill do no conside his wo k o be jou nalism, hey ha e been abandoning
ad e sa ial posi ions and ha e begun o be e alue he con ibu ions made by use s (Chua
and Du y 2019).
Fo news oom p o essionals, he essence o jou nalism wo k has no changed. Jou -
nalis s ha e a s ong p o essional iden i y, which is based on belonging o sel - egula ing
o ganisa ions whose common objec i e is he p oduc ion o p ima y in o ma ion (Ande s-
son and Wiik 2013;Ö neb ing 2013;Vos and Fe ucci 2018). They also pe cei e ha hei
main commi men is o public se ice (Deuze 2005), which implies, among many o he
p o essional ai s, espec ing plu ali y, e i ying in o ma ion, being u h ul o sepa a ing
ac s and opinions (Suá ez-Villegas 2017). And al hough he delibe a ion s a egy looked
a ac i e because we unde s and ha he media a e spaces o public discussion, p o es-
sionals pe cei e he ime de o ed o in e ac ing wi h audiences as a de ia ion om he
main ac i i y hey mus ca y ou (Law ence e al. 2018).
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 5 o 12
Al hough ci izen jou nalism and use -gene a ed con en did no ques ion he p o-
essional iden i y o he jou nalis s (Heise e al. 2014), hei eme gence has ein o ced i
(Ca lsson and Nilsson 2016).
This sha ed posi ion o de ending o ganisa ional cul u e has le li le oom o ci izen
jou nalism o c ea i e pa icipa ion. Nei he did i con ibu e o imp o ing he pe cep-
ion o audience con ibu ions ha he ools p o ided o hem we e, in addi ion o o he
uses, a sou ce o ha assmen and hec o ing agains jou nalis s (E ja ec and Ko aˇciˇc 2013;
Ga dine 2018).
Jou nalis s hink ha use -gene a ed con en needs o be e iewed by p o essionals
o a oid bias o manipula ion (Ö neb ing 2013). In ac , he mos usual esou ce is o use
hem as ep esen a i es o he “common people,” wi h no ega d o hei specialisa ion,
knowledge, o expe ience (He mans e al. 2014). Ci izens a e also in e es ed in aising new
opics, al hough he e ends o be a limi ed numbe o pa icipan s, which c ea es agili y
(Wia d and Simonson 2019).
In con as wi h ci izen jou nalis s, he majo i y o whom ha e no aining in his ield
(Kus e al. 2017), jou nalis s de end hei p o ession oo h and nail, which equi es, in addi-
ion o p o essional backg ound, a se o skills and an ins i u ional s uc u e
(Quand 2018)
.
Jou nalis s adduce ha one o he easons limi ing audience pa icipa ion is ha hei
wo kload p e en s hem om achie ing uly aluable collabo a ions on use -gene a ed
con en . Re iewing commen s is also a low p io i y, al hough hey openly acknowledge
ha hey ollow social media mo e (Pé ez-Díaz e al. 2020). Some au ho s ha e iden i ied
his lack o ecip oci y om jou nalis s as p ecisely one o he easons ha audiences a e
demo i a ed (Lewis e al. 2014). E en hough all jou nalis s conside dialogue en iching
(Suá ez-Villegas 2017), he media has condi ioned how hese con en s a e p oduced, hei
con ex , and e en he opics (Hol and Ka lsson 2011).
Jou nalis s also do no pa icula ly app ecia e he alue o use s’ con ibu ions in
con olling he edi o ial con en o he media. D i en by he de ence o hei au onomy and
hei social ole (Pé ez-Díaz e al. 2020), mis ake co ec ion bu ons o use con ibu ions
o c ea ing and e ising news pieces a e wo o he lowes - a ed op ions by p o essionals
(Ramon e al. 2020), al hough signi ican ly g ea e wi h young jou nalis s.
3.4. Making Pa icipa ion P o i able
Fo news companies, adding pa icipa ion has led o new ension be ween he wo
classic news oom discou ses, meaning be ween he jou nalis s’ p o essional ideal and he
company’s co po a e e icacy and he p o i abili y o he business model (Ande sson and
Wiik 2013).
Wi hin he con ex o his classic duali y be ween quali y and p o i abili y, media
manage s ha e pe cei ed use -gene a ed con en as a way o inc ease he numbe o isi s
o cap u e hei a en ion o longe and ga ne g ea e loyal y o he publica ion and, in
some cases, also educe p oduc ion cos s (Vujno ic e al. 2010;Manose i ch and Tenenboim
2017). As F anck (2019) summa ises, media exchange in o ma ion and en e ainmen o
a en ion, which is, in u n, mone ised ia ad e ising. Manage s also unde s and ha
opening up he doo o pa icipa ion can lead o ein o cemen o he o ganisa ion’s cul u al
capi al (Hellmuelle and Li 2015).
As such, since he beginning, a la ge po ion o he d aw o pa icipa ion o news
companies was hei cos -sa ing aspec , gi en ha audiences willing o c ea e con en o
ee we e added (Domingo e al. 2008). Gene alising pa icipa ion spaces ( he e we e plen y
o hem bu e y limi ed in na u e and po en ial) had much mo e o do wi h economic
easons han he o iginal spi i o p omo ing spaces o delibe a ion o b oaden democ a ic
eedoms (Singe e al. 2011;Masip and Suau 2014). As such, commen sec ions, su eys,
o ums and, in gene al, all spaces whe e audiences could sha e hei con en apidly sp ead
(He mida and Thu man 2008), al hough, like wi h o he inno a ions in he sec o , he
p o essional and co po a e impe a i e was o occupy space in he new media, wi hou
excess conce n o how his objec i e was achie ed.
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 6 o 12
The di icul y in managing use -gene a ed con en (Domingo 2011), pa ially in i s mos
nega i e aspec , a om p o iding cheap labou , made clea ha audience pa icipa ion
equi ed a much g ea e amoun o echnical and human esou ces o help il e con en
(Law ence e al. 2018). Pa icipa ion spaces needed o be ede ined, mode a ion needed o
be inc eased, new ools needed o be implemen ed (including machine lea ning), and hey
began a emp ing o iden i y use s h ough pla o m logins.
In summa y, he di icul ies in ol ed in managing pa icipa ion and con olling use -
gene a ed con en and he esis ance o sha ing edi o ial esponsibili y ha e led he media
o g adually limi hei spaces o pa icipa ion (Masip e al. 2019). A he same ime, he
uns oppable eme gence o social ne wo ks na u ally ans e ed use -gene a ed con en
and audience pa icipa ion o hem, while he media ha e p e e ed o op o con en
dis ibu ion (Wes lund 2013;Hille and Bakke 2013;Peña-Fe nández e al. 2016;La ondo-
U e a e al. 2023).
This was mos ce ainly one o he main ans o ma ions in how news media con-
cei ed audience pa icipa ion. Se e al longi udinal s udies on how media p o essionals
pe cei e he con ibu ion ha hei audiences migh make indica e ha hey ha e gone
om pe cei ing hem as po en ial con en co-c ea o s o mainly conside ing hem as e-
dis ibu o s o in o ma ion (K ums ik 2018). This shi in ocus on ela ions be ween
playe s in he news p ocess has led o a educed numbe o media pa icipa ion spaces
and an inc ease in p ac ises o d aw audience a en ion and how o make his a en ion
p o i able (Myllylah i 2020).
The s a egy o di e ing pa icipa ion owa ds social media has he ad an age ha i
is a complemen a y channel o a ic and income ha does no ques ion he legi imacy
o he jou nalis p o ession (Vos and Fe ucci 2018). Thus, he news media can main ain
hei ole as a p ima y sou ce o news, news ooms main ain edi o ial con ol o e he
con en hey c ea e, and audiences la e help o aise isibili y o his news, e-dis ibu ing
i and in e ac ing wi h i once published, which con ibu es o s eng hening a business
model ha gua an ees he social ole o he media (K ums ik 2018). Bu a he same ime,
his p ac ice also del es in o he an agonism be ween media co po a ions and In e ne
pla o ms o he ex en ha i con ibu es o he o e p oduc ion o con en and g ea e
ele ance o he pla o ms’ in e media ion wo k. This has unde mined he adi ional
business and p oduc ion model o jou nalism and he logic o concen a ion and con ol o
p oduc ion (Siape a 2013).
I is a his poin ha we ind one o he sub le pa adoxes o audience in luence on news
media con en . Al hough he possibili y o di ec ly c ea ing news in he media has lagged,
he capaci y o sha e he news and guide p o essional jou nalis ou ines owa ds mo e
comme cial, p o i -o ien ed pe spec i es, has inc eased (Belai -Gagnon and Hol on 2018).
Banking on social media, he e o e, is no ha mless, as i ully in ol es he news media
in he igh o audience a en ion (Myllylah i 2020). Web analy ics companies do no
conside jou nalis c i e ia bu a he indi ec ly p omo e s anda ds and alues o ien ed
owa ds ob aining p o i s by in oducing he isibili y o success a es o news ooms
amongs use s in said news ooms’ ou ine alues (Belai -Gagnon and Hol on 2018). In
he las ins ance, his all lames he deba e on how his a en ion economy jeopa dises he
public sphe e and he e y ope a ion o democ acy (Hindman 2018).
4. Conclusions and Discussion
The eme gence o online news media, especially beginning wi h Web 2.0, empowe ed
audiences as oices in pa allel o he news media o c ea e hei own con en h ough
easy- o-use, low-cos ools. In some cases, his de eloped news u opias whe e people spoke
o “jou nalism wi hou jou nalis s”.
The p omises o ci izen jou nalism and audience pa icipa ion in c ea ing news in he
media soon came up agains h ee impo an limi a ions ha s un ed hei de elopmen .
On he one hand, he audience’s lack o in e es in c ea ing news con en in a sus ained
manne , despi e he abili y hey ha e shown o make ele an and aluable con ibu ions
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 7 o 12
o e en s o g ea social impac (disas e s, mass e en s, e c.). Likewise, he media ha e
had di icul ies in managing hei audiences’ o en imes p oblema ic pa icipa ion. The
ede ini ion o he adi ional no ms wi h which audiences had con ibu ed un il hen in
he media, in pa icula , anonymi y o he olume o pa icipa ion, has inc eased he isk o
inci ili y and he sp ead o in o ma ion diso de s.
In addi ion, co po a e zeal, jou nalis s’ de ence o hei o ganisa ional cul u e, and a
co po a e app oach based on secu ing audience loyal y and economic p o i abili y (closely
ela ed o plumme ing ad e ising income and he down all o s uc u es ha he media
had on simila channels) we e a om he o iginal idea o omen ing a delibe a i e cul u e
and dis ibu ing powe in democ a ic socie ies.
E en hough he e is no doub ha ci izen jou nalism and pa icipa ion ha e edeemed
he cen al ole o audiences in he news p ocess (Picone e al. 2015) and ha e also spa ked
a g ea e deg ee o pa icipa ion and in e ac i i y (Jönsson and Ö neb ing 2011), hey
do no pa icipa e in he channels c ea ed in he media (Suau e al. 2019). Nei he ha e
jou nalis s been able o c ea e ou ines and spaces o in e ac ion wi h audiences in he
media hemsel es, while companies ha e ocused on seeking ou new ways o sell hei
p oduc s wi hou gi ing up edi o ial con ol (Ushe 2014).
Due o all he a o emen ioned, he idea o ci izen jou nalism o e ing use -gene a ed
con en h ough he media ou le s hemsel es now appea s o be a hing o he pas
(Quand 2018) and bea s many o he ea u es de ining ailed inno a ion, gi en ha ci izen
jou nalism cu en ly occu s on he pe iphe y o adi ional news media (Wall 2019).
Howe e , gi ing up on co-c ea ion spaces does no mean ha audiences ha e los
hei capaci y o in luence he con en ha he media c ea e. Pa adoxically, h ough social
media, whe e hei ole as news e-dis ibu o s has g an ed audiences a ga ekeeping ole
a e publica ion (He mida 2020), hei in luence has di ec ly condi ioned he con en ha
he media c ea e based on hei success on social media. Use s a e ad oca es who ede ine
he hie a chy o news ha was p e iously selec ed by jou nalis s, deciding which news is
wo h sha ing and which is no (Masip 2015).
Redi ec ing pa icipa ion owa ds social media seeks o maximise media audience,
impac , and e enue. Ci izen jou nalism, o he co-c ea ion o news con en , has been
dilu ed in a ou o SEO echniques o he quasi-exclusi e concep ion o pa icipa ion, as
opinions conduc ed on channels ha p io i ise audience loyal y and p o ide access o new
audiences h ough channels ha e ne e be o e been conside ed inciden al consump ion o
in o ma ion (Boczkowski e al. 2018). In he classic dispu e be ween news oom and co po-
a e alues, audience pa icipa ion appea s o shi he scale owa ds he la e (Ande sson
and Wiik 2013).
As such, he esul o empowe ing audiences who a e ac i e in he media is la gely
media ised pa icipa ion, leaning owa ds g ea e audience in e ac ion wi h media con en .
The s uggle o d aw hei in e es in a highly compe i i e se ing cons i u es a new me hod
o pa icipa ion (indi ec and “ex-pos ”, al hough as in luen ial) ha once again places
he old con o e sy be ween public in e es and he in e es o he public a he hea o
he deba e. Fo his eason, i is impo an ha news companies con inue o es ablish
collabo a ion channels amongs all playe s who pa icipa e in he p ocess (Eld idge 2018)
so hey can con inue inno a ing (Wes lund e al. 2021).
This s udy bea s ce ain limi a ions. Since i exclusi ely conside s how ci izens pa -
icipa e in he media, i does no add ess how his ci izen jou nalism has mo ed o social
media (Ri onga and Syahpu a 2019) o communi y o al e na i e media ha ha e a isen in
pa allel wi h adi ional media, o en imes much smalle in size and ocused on de ending
speci ic in e es s (Ha cup 2011;Meadows 2013).
Soc. Sci. 2024,13, 266 8 o 12
Au ho Con ibu ions: Concep ualiza ion, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.; me hodology, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.;
so wa e, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.; alida ion, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.; o mal analysis, S.P.-F., A.L.-U. and
I.A.; in es iga ion, S.P.-F., A.L.-U. and I.A.; esou ces, S.P.-F., A.L.-U. and I.A.; da a cu a ion, S.P.-F.,
A.L.-U. and I.A.; w i ing—o iginal d a p epa a ion, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.; w i ing— e iew and edi ing,
S.P.-F., A.L.-U. and I.A.; supe ision, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.; p ojec adminis a ion, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U.;
unding acquisi ion, S.P.-F. and A.L.-U. All au ho s ha e ead and ag eed o he published e sion o
he manusc ip .
Funding: This esea ch was unded by he Spanish Minis y o Science, Inno a ion and Uni e si ies,
g an numbe RTI2018-095775-B-C41 and Basque Go e nmen , g an numbe IT1496-22.
Ins i u ional Re iew Boa d S a emen : No applicable.
In o med Consen S a emen : No applicable.
Da a A ailabili y S a emen : Da a p esen ed in his s udy a e a ailable on eques om he
co esponding au ho .
Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic s o in e es .
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