Journalists´ role in society has traditionally been of representative nature with a task to distribute news and scrutinize those in power. But technological changes have created a new publishing world outside the traditional media institutions. In today’s redactional society anyone can become a publisher in a blog or through other channels on online. This process can be seen as contributing to increased democratization giving everyone the opportunity to publish. However for those used to having monopoly on distributing news and scrutinizing society these changes are forcing journalists to adapt to a new competitive environment.   There have been several previous studies of how this new digital milieu is affecting journalism from societal, organizational and news room perspectives. Little or no focus has been on how journalists themselves experience their changing professional status as a result of this new media world. Journalists employed by the public service broadcasters have got the most specified and explicitly expressed task with their responsibilities for contributing to a democratic society and an active citizenship, as stipulated by the government. How do these journalists deal with citizens now challenging the journalists´ previous well-guarded access to publishing?   This essay examines the affect of these changes on journalists within two public service organizations in Sweden, asking journalists to reflect on the impact on their professional roles. The study is based on ten interviews with regional journalists employed by the Swedish public service radio and television corporations: Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Television. The analyze is based on theories on public service, professionalism and boundary maintenance. The study shows that the interviewed journalists identify more strongly with being a part of a public service ethos than being a journalist as such. They value the relationship with the audience and express a wish for even more contact with listeners and viewers. At the same time they want to continue to keep the in-house control over the journalistic process where they are the producers of the content. It is clear that the journalists appreciate publishing initiative allowing the general public to ‘be journalists’ but they warn against mixing the citizen reports with journalism. Citizen contribution in terms of user generated content or citizen journalism, is considered as something to satisfy people’s “creativity and wish to express themselves” – not a valuable contribution to journalism. Boundary maintenance mechanisms can be clearly observed among the journalists in an attempt to keep their journalistic authority and the arguments used refer to the “other´s” lack of credibility, accountability and impartiality. A similar role hierarchy can also be identified within the occupational group, where some characteristics and qualities are considered to contribute to a more “genuine” journalism than other. Nevertheless, a journalistic “us” always appears when boundaries are marked against what is looked on as non-journalism, for example user generated content and grass root journalism.

<p>Journalists´ role in society has traditionally been of representative nature with a task to distribute news and scrutinize those in power. But technological changes have created a new publishing world outside the traditional media institutions. In today’s redactional society anyone can become a publisher in a blog or through other channels on online. This process can be seen as contributing to increased democratization giving everyone the opportunity to publish. However for those used to having monopoly on distributing news and scrutinizing society these changes are forcing journalists to adapt to a new competitive environment.</p><p> </p><p>There have been several previous studies of how this new digital milieu is affecting journalism from societal, organizational and news room perspectives. Little or no focus has been on how journalists themselves experience their changing professional status as a result of this new media world. Journalists employed by the public service broadcasters have got the most specified and explicitly expressed task with their responsibilities for contributing to a democratic society and an active citizenship, as stipulated by the government. How do these journalists deal with citizens now challenging the journalists´ previous well-guarded access to publishing?</p><p> </p><p>This essay examines the affect of these changes on journalists within two public service organizations in Sweden, asking journalists to reflect on the impact on their professional roles. The study is based on ten interviews with regional journalists employed by the Swedish public service radio and television corporations: Sveriges Radio and Sveriges Television. The analyze is based on theories on public service, professionalism and boundary maintenance.</p><p>The study shows that the interviewed journalists identify more strongly with being a part of a public service ethos than being a journalist as such. They value the relationship with the audience and express a wish for even more contact with listeners and viewers. At the same time they want to continue to keep the in-house control over the journalistic process where they are the producers of the content. It is clear that the journalists appreciate publishing initiative allowing the general public to ‘be journalists’ but they warn against mixing the citizen reports with journalism. Citizen contribution in terms of user generated content or citizen journalism, is considered as something to satisfy people’s “creativity and wish to express themselves” – not a valuable contribution to journalism.</p><p>Boundary maintenance mechanisms can be clearly observed among the journalists in an attempt to keep their journalistic authority and the arguments used refer to the “other´s” lack of credibility, accountability and impartiality. A similar role hierarchy can also be identified within the occupational group, where some characteristics and qualities are considered to contribute to a more “genuine” journalism than other. Nevertheless, a journalistic “us” always appears when boundaries are marked against what is looked on as non-journalism, for example user generated content and grass root journalism.</p>

Användarskapat innehåll, eller UGC från engelskans User Generated Content, har med teknikens utveckling blivit allt mer populärt på webbtidningar. Det ses som en konkurrensfördel men kan även innebära risker för tidningen, inte minst kostnadsmässigt. Det blir därför viktigt att satsa på UGC som läsarna vill ha, men vad detta innebär är inte ett välutforskat ämne. Denna uppsats ämnar svara på vilket användarskapat innehåll läsare av webbtidningar föredrar, samt varför de föredrar just detta. Med utgångspunkt i en litteraturstudie identifierades fem aspekter som kan hjälpa till att beskriva UGC. Med en dagboksstudie urskiljdes nio teman utifrån vilka det var möjligt att styrka fyra av aspekterna samt identifiera ytterligare fem aspekter som föreföll påverka hur läsare uppskattar UGC. / User Generated Content (UGC) has, with the fast-paced technological development, become increasingly popular in online newspapers. It is considered a competitive advantage but might entail risks for the newspapers, not in the least cost-wise. Thus it becomes important to invest in the UGC readers want, but what this encompasses is not a widely explored subject. This essay intends to answer what UGC readers of online newspapers prefer and why they prefer this particular content. On the basis of a literature study five aspects that can help describe UGC were identified. A diary study resulted in the identification of nine themes based on which it was possible to corroborate four of the aspects as well as identify a further five aspects that appeared to affect how readers view UGC.