Reportr.net

As news organisations grapple with the concept of citizen journalism, one US TV station has decided to fire most of its staff and rely instead on user-generated content.

The Santa Rosa station, KFTY-TV Channel 50, is replacing its nightly newscasts with material from viewers. In the words of the station’s general manager John Burgess:

We want viewers to tell us and supply us with the content that they want. It’s much like having a bunch of citizen journalists. Frankly, I think we’re going to do a much better job of covering local issues than we are doing right now.

The concept of a viewer-driven station might seem forward-thinking at a time when videos on YouTube are taking eyeballs away from the TV screen. But in this case the motivation is more about money, with Burgess explaining that the station was “no longer in a position to access the advertiser base required to maintain two long form newscasts”.

Is this a case of a TV station doing the right thing for the wrong reasons? I have doubts that the station can survive by user media alone. As Howard Owens says in his blog:

I think the conversation is important, and I think what drives good conversation are paid staff who know what they’re doing.

I would suggest that embracing user generated content requires more, rather than fewer, resources. This has been the experience at the BBC.