UGC ‘No Replacement For Quality Journalism’

The NUJ has warned that user-generated content (UGC) should not be used as a “replacement for quality professional journalism”.

A new study from the union’s Commission on Multimedia Working delivers a broadside to certain UK and US publishers, accusing them of using citizen journalism “as a source of free content while cutting professional journalistic capacity to the bone”.

The Shaping the Future report also criticises expectations at some newspapers that journalists should answer emails from readers, saying it “can be a time-consuming distraction from their core duties and responsibilities”.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, as the paper insists that UGC does have a role in “modern media”.

Published this month, the report outlines the challenges faced by journalists in the digital world, encompassing areas from working hours, health and safety issues to pay and conditions.

The document, available online here, includes results from questionnaires submitted by reporters, excerpts from staff interviews and details of agreements made between NUJ members and their employers.

A variety of reactions to the report have sprouted up across the journalism blogosphere, check out blogs from Paul Bradshaw, Andy Dickinson, Neil McIntosh and journalism.co.uk for more.