CARACTERÍSTICAS DEL SERVICIO DEL METROPOLITANO

The Internet (as the backbone of all new media services) has already provided cheap and varied sources of information and simplified archive searches. Online new media services have multiplied not only news services but also independent sources of information. However, more information may not necessarily mean better (more socially useful) information. On the contrary, the sudden expansion of the Internet in the late 1990s brought more rumours and scandals into the reporting of the traditional media. The most recent research (Lim, 2012) casts doubt on the notion that vast amounts of instantly changing news circulate among online media. Lim (2012) also claims that the immediacy of online news is a myth. This myth is not supported by statistical data. Furthermore, this myth ignores the fact that traditional institutional practices govern the news production activities of news websites. This was well-documented by Murár (2012: 66), who pointed out that the overall trend of traditional media - offering the most recent information as quickly as possible - also results in the re-evaluation of the traditional model of institutional authority. Moreover, traditional media actually still compete at the traditional level of professional journalism, i.e. on

speed and the importance of news. In other words, the key professional parameters of journalism so far remain the same, regardless of new forms of communication (see Paterson and Domingo, 2008). Nevertheless, blogs and social media have provided interesting leads for reports as well as for identifying experts in various fields. The Finnish study (Kuutti, Lauk and Lindgren, 2011: 38) confirms that journalists use social media to some degree in their professional routines (seeking background, mapping discussion topics, etc.). Similarly, Oriella’s 2011 report confirms that more than 40% of journalists from various countries use blogs when sourcing news and more than a quarter use blogs for verifying information (Oriella, 2011).

Even more importantly, some media have introduced the concept of

‘iamreporter’ or ‘ireport’, i.e. encouraging viewers to send tips and video clips or photos. Another type of contribution is readers’ active participation in the editorial process – and journalism production. This has led to interesting projects with tangible results.¹⁵ It seems that the British Guardian is a leader of this type of open journalism.

This so-called ‘open journalism’ is composed of principles related to public issue debates, real time conversation and adding value through audiences. In Finland, the online version of Aamulehti has assigned a group of ‘online correspondents’ to operate within the immense digital information flow on the Internet (Heikkilä Domingo, Pies, Glowacki, Kus & Baisnée, 2012: 39). Most recently, in April 2012, the Italian daily La Repubblica launched a new platform - Reporter - for users to submit videos. A comparative study done by Heikkilä et al., (2012: 54) suggests that collaborative news production in online news organisations can be found worldwide.

These collaborative practices bring new professional challenges to editorial offices.

The use of ICTs has required the media to hire or train more experienced editors who are able to process multiple sources of information of various quality/reliability and (ideally) in different languages. Additionally, online editions apply pressure for continuous editing and revision of already published stories. Finally, the new media services provide a platform for criticism and feedback on media issues. This criticism is perhaps most present in the United Kingdom, where the new media services are often regarded as instrumental in giving a voice to public criticism of the excesses of tabloid journalism (Heikkilä et al., 2012: 39).

From the above analysis, there seem to be two important types of impact of new online media services on traditional media services: a professional impact and an economic impact. The professional impact is understood as an increase or decline in the quality of traditional media output. Economic impact includes positive or negative consequences for the prosperity of traditional media, and thus, indirectly, on the free and independent work of the traditional media. In other words, if advertisers increasingly invest in online media, this clearly lowers the sources available to the traditional media which may in turn undermine their financial autonomy. As can be seen from the table below, there seems to be a weak or medium positive professional impact on the traditional media in about half of the Mediadem countries and a weak or medium negative economic impact in some countries. There are three unusual exceptions: Finland (a medium positive professional impact), Italy (a weak negative professional impact) and Romania (a medium negative economic impact).

15 See http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/reading-the-riots (date accessed 11/07/2012).

Professional

The impact of blogs and citizens’ journalism on traditional media in economic terms is in general rather weak. Concerning professional impact, the traditional media are sometimes inspired by blogs and the online news media services (an agenda setting function). What is of social importance is that these sources brought to public attention several topics, which were not covered regularly or even at all by the traditional media. Yet, in spite of a number of alternative sources, it seems that in most Mediadem countries the media still rely on PR/wire services.

There are some interesting variations present here too. For example, there are significant differences between two similar small markets (Belgium – with two linguistic submarkets, and Slovakia). In Belgium there are few online citizen news initiatives, and most blogs come from established journalists writing in their free time or after being dismissed from their jobs and failing to find new employment in established media groups. In contrast, in Slovakia the majority of blogs come from citizens, some popular blogs come from politicians, and relatively few blogs come from (usually unemployed or partially employed) journalists.