Tidigare forskning har visat att journalisters publiksyn präglats av att de sett sin publik som en passiv part, en mottagare av det material som publicerats eller som en uppdragsgivare för det material som skall publiceras. Webben har gett det journalistiska yrkesfältet nya verktyg via vilka publiken kan delta och påverka nyhetsflödet. Den här uppsatsens huvudsyfte har varit att undersöka vilken syn dagens webbjournalister har på sin publik. En kartläggning av fem svenska mediers webbplatser visar på vilka möjligheter publiken har att delta i det journalistiska arbetet idag via bland annat sociala medier, kommentarsfält och bloggar. Kartläggningen, tillsammans med en enkätundersökning gjord bland redaktionsmedlemmar samt två separata djupintervjuer med redaktörer från dessa medieföretag undersöker hur dagens svenska webbjournalister tänker kring sin publik och kring rollen publiken tagit i det journalistiska arbetet. Resultatet av forskningen visar att webbjournalister ger uttryck för att publikens deltagande är en viktig del i deras dagliga arbete. Vidare visar undersökningen att webbjournalister i hög grad använder sig av sociala medier som ett verktyg för publikinteraktion men att deras syn på kommentarsfunktioner är mer splittrad.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how librarians, information specialists and teachers discuss Wikipedia within national (Swedish) professional journals. Questions asked in the study are: How is Wikipedia perceived in the professional journals? What different positions do writers and commentators take in relation to Wikipedia? 133 articles from 31 different professional journals in the period from 2001 to the middle of 2010 were analysed. The theory and method used is Laclau’s and Mouffe’s discourse theory from which we created our own model with sex different steps. The results show that there are several recurring discussions, for example about the credibility of user generated content. Another example is the discussion about the use of Wikipedia within the education and school contexts and whether the encyclopedia should be seen as sufficiently credible to use in these contexts. From these discussions we have identified three discourses that we have chosen to call: the knowledge-liberal discourse, the knowledge-conservative discourse and the pedagogical discourse. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This study is based on an inductive approach where the collected empirical data has been categorized in themes on which we have based the discussion in this paper. Using a qualitative method, nine appropriately selected respondents were questioned with an unstructured interview guide. The transition to a society characterized by interaction has caused a greater part for bilateral communication between consumer and consumer but also between consumer and company. The increased usage and integration on Internet has resulted in so called social media channels. User generated material is published on these media channels which leads to discussions about companies, products and services. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how the tourism industry utilizes social media in communication and marketing and to present the effects that come from working with media channels. Companies can no longer ignore the fact that consumers discuss them and their range of products and services through social media online. Companies need to adapt to this change in the way they use communication channels in media, surrender some control and let consumers drive the brand. They also need effectively manage their image in order to build and preserve the brand value and create stronger and better relations with their customers.

<p>This study is based on an inductive approach where the collected empirical data has been categorized in themes on which we have based the discussion in this paper. Using a qualitative method, nine appropriately selected respondents were questioned with an unstructured interview guide. The transition to a society characterized by interaction has caused a greater part for bilateral communication between consumer and consumer but also between consumer and company. The increased usage and integration on Internet has resulted in so called social media channels. User generated material is published on these media channels which leads to discussions about companies, products and services. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how the tourism industry utilizes social media in communication and marketing and to present the effects that come from working with media channels. Companies can no longer ignore the fact that consumers discuss them and their range of products and services through social media online. Companies need to adapt to this change in the way they use communication channels in media, surrender some control and let consumers drive the brand. They also need effectively manage their image in order to build and preserve the brand value and create stronger and better relations with their customers.</p>

Sedan 1700-talet har läsarnas medverkan varit en väsentlig del i tidningarnas produktion. Utan deras deltagande har det inte heller blivit någon tidning. En förändring på området skedde när professionaliseringen av publicistrollen blev ett faktum och läsarnas medverkan ifrågasattes. Samhällsförändringar och tekniska utvecklingar har sedan lett fram till det vi har idag: ett samhälle där medieorganisationerna är i allt större behov av att läsarna återigen deltar i olika former. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka hur journalister och ledning på tre olika lokaltidningar resonerar kring och förhåller sig till användargenererat material, samt vilka möjligheter användarna har att delta. Genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med lokaltidningarnas ansvariga utgivare och två journalister på respektive redaktion har vi fått fram att tidningarna generellt har ett positivt förhållningssätt till användargenererat material. De anser att teknikens utveckling både har hämmat och främjat relationen till läsarna i takt med att olika plattformer har utökat tidningarnas grundläggande publiceringskanal, det vill säga papperstidningen. Informanterna tror på ett ökat samarbete mellan yrkesverksamma journalister och användare i framtiden. De hävdar samtidigt att användarnas material inte får ta allt för stor plats och på så sätt konkurrera ut redaktionsmaterialet. Vidare menar de att yrkesprofessionen och de kunskaper som den omfattar är en av grundpelarna i tidningens funktion och så bör det förbli. I diskussionen använder vi oss av begrepp som offentlighet och deltagande samt resonemang kring det förändrade mediesammanhanget och den journalistiska yrkesprofessionen. / Since the eighteenth century user contribution has been a crucial part of newspaper production. Without the participation from the public there hasn’t been a newspaper at all. The professionalization of the publicist role became the starting point who changed how people valued user contribution. Societal change and the technical development has then led to the society we have today – a place where media organizations find themselves in a greater need for user participation to survive. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine how three local news papers reason about and react to user generated content and also to find out what possibilities the users have to participate. Thru semi structured interviews with the legally responsible publisher for each news paper and two journalists from each editorial staff our result shows that the news papers have a positive attitude towards user generated content in general. The informants say that the technological development have been both an improvement and inhibitory in the relationship to the readers. They believe in an increased cooperation in the future but at the same time emphasize the fact that user generated content can’t be allowed to take too much place and become a rival to the journalistic material. The informants also say that the knowledge they posses thru their journalistic education is the main core in their work as well as in the idea and function of the news paper. That is the way it should remain. We use terms and theories about the public sphere, participation, media convergence and the journalistic profession in our discussion.