The Rise of Semi-pro Journalism

Davar Iran Ardalan, Senior Producer

Brian Lehrer, the Host of WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show moderated a panel that included citizen journalist Mayhill Fowler of Off the Bus at the Huffington Post, Amy Holmes of CNN, and Jay Rosen of Pressthink.org. Rosen teaches journalism at New York University and is a leading proponent of public journalism.

As someone who has been in public radio for seventeen years, Jay Rosen's talk spoke to me the most. As the Senior Producer of an NPR Newsmagazine, I do think about the new digital platform and what role I will play in taking our show in that direction. One of my goals is to continue strengthening our craft as storytellers both on the radio and on the web.

Back to the rise of "semi-pro journalism." In the past year, NYU's Jay Rosen has also worked with some 3,000 citizen journalists at the Huffington Post. "We are early in the rise of 'semi-pro journalism, but we are well into the decline of an old way of life within the tribe of professional journalism," he says. He calls professional journalists a tribe because "they share a culture and a sense of destiny and because they think they own the press."

I thought about whether or not we are in the midst of "survival drama," as Rosen described it, and decided that's not a bad way of putting it. The fact is that media organizations across the country are grappling with how to "migrate" to the digital platform. We here at NPR are lucky, in that many of us, in the next year or two, will be trained in multi-media. But integration into the digital platform brings with it many philosophical questions about editorial control and the ethical rules we have all been trained to follow. Will we have to be more flexible and embrace the semi-pros?

We have reported on Weekend Edition on citizen journalists and bloggers and their influence this political season. Specifically, Mayhill Fowler, the 61-year-old citizen journalist from the Huffington Post who broke two big campaign stories this season. She also broke the ethical rules we "professional journalists" follow.

Rosen pointed out that today, the press has "pro and amateur zones." The pros come from a "closed system," and, Rosen says, "closed systems are good at enforcing editorial control." He notes that the open system has given birth to peer-to-peer participation and online communites. "The two editorial systems - open and closed - don't work the same way," he says. But, he points out that while "one does not replace the other, they are not enemies, either." He adds, "We need to understand a lot better how they can work together in the delivery of spectacular editorial goods."

I say Sunday Soapbox is a good "hybrid" beginning where citizen journalists and vloggers work together with long-time NPR Producers and Editors to bring you a slice of the political dialogue in 2008.