The 12th International Symposium on Online Journalism ended with the research panel, Beyond the Conversation, Beyond Engagement.

Chris Kabwato, from the School of Journalism and Media Studies of the Rhodes University at South Africa chaired the panel that included C.W. Anderson, from the College of Staten Island (CUNY), Alfred Hermida, from the UBC Grad School of Journalism in Canada, Seth Lewis, from the University of Minnesota, and Kang Hui Baek and Mark Coddington, from the University of Texas at Austin.

Anderson talked about the role of news aggregators in web-era journalism, the growing tension between the authority of journalism, and open participation.

According to Anderson’s research, aggregation can be seen as the enemy in copyright/economic terms. However, aggregators themselves think that what they do is less about journalism, and more about making sense of the internet. (Paper, PDF).

Hermida followed, introducing the concept of audiences as “active recipients” somewhere between passive receivers and active creators of content. He noted the importance of having contributions of the witness type, and said the audience is expected to act and to react. (Paper, PDF).

The third paper, presented by Lewis, stressed the role of the Knight News Challenge in shaping journalism innovation, noting key correlates of innovations that successfully move through the challenge, including technology and innovation. (Paper, PDF).

Finally, Baek and Coddington explained the link between polarization and credibility of traditional and partisan media. The more people selectively expose themselves to certain news media, the more they find those news media sources credible and vice versa. (Paper, PDF).

ISOJ 2011: Beyond the Conversation, Beyond Engagement Q&A, from Knight Center on Vimeo.