News from the crowd

Abstract

Information content provided by members of the general public (mostly online) is playing an ever-increasing role in the detection, production and distribution of news. This paper investigates the concepts of (1) grassroots journalism and (2) collaborative journalism. It looks into similarities and differences and shows how both phenomena have been influenced by the emergence of the Internet and digital technologies. Then, the consequences for journalism in general will be analysed. Ultimately, strategies to meet the new challenges are suggested in order to maintain the quality and reliability of news coverage in the future.