Well, relatively great, considering how hard it is to even work with the media. I made it my goal to try to get some of my citizen reports featured.
I did this in conjunction with the New Media Tools for Journalism class I taught at BU. I wanted to show the students that they should be producing meida NOW and working to get it out there. I tried video, photos, audio, and blog posts.
I had some exciting moments of success getting my reports featured in media outlets in 2008. I was also featured too. ;-)
I'm not sure why we look to be validated in this way. It's a love/hate relationship. In the end, lots of readers and viewers are still there, it's the interactivity that's lacking. You'll understand if you are ever featured, you don't really hear much about if afterwards.
The best feedback I got this year was on a Christmas card that had a note, "You were great on Chronicle!"
I've got to get those friends on Facebook. :-)
Here are my 5 favorite Examples of my citizen reporting and/or me being featured in legacy Media:
5. Boston Globe - Utterli and Flickr Reporting from Roche Bros.
Ric Kahn from the Globe wrote a great piece featuring how I use new media tools like Utteli and Flickr to report news of interest to a hyperlocal community.
The Boston Globe Covers My Audio Reports From Roche Bros.
4. Boston.com - Video Blogs Featured on the Front Page
Boston.com featured many of my video reports on their front page this year. Each time a report is featured, I get thousands of additional views. The Globe does it right on the front page, they put up a thumbnail image and link back to my video blog. That way people can watch the video on my site and leave comemnts if they choose.
I'd suggest that whoever is selecting the videos for the front page introduce themselves and start up a conversation with the viedo creator. I'd like to get notified when my videos a featured on the front page. Usually my sister-in-law calls after seeing it. There's an opportunity here for the Globe to reach out.
3. BBC - Have Your Say - The Election
The BBC did a great job of soliciting videos about the US election. They monitored a few different video sites, like Qik and Seesmic, and with the permission of the creators, highlighted US resident's thoughts on the campaign. Carol and I had a lot of fun making videos for them. They are improving by including identification of the producers.
Videos from the US: the debate
2. WCVB - Chronicle - Media Makers
Jason Potts produced a great segment on local media makers. He followed me as I shot video of Boston City Councillor John Tobin, seen here, and video of the band Freezepop, who I recorded for Next New Networks. I really love seeing the resulting video in HD on the big screen. Nice job.
Steve Garfield Featured on WCVB Boston's Chronicle
Media Makers as seen on Chronicle
1. CNN - Hurricane Kyle
I was in the right place at the right time when Hurricane Kyle hit the Maine Coast. I recorded a report with my MacBook Pro and Quicktime and sent it in to CNN's iReport. That report was picked up and shown on CNN. That's the biggest exposure I got all year. CNN could improve in the coming year by notifying producers when their content airs on CNN, and by providing an embeddable link to video of tehir content being aired. That would generate more links in to CNN.
Looking back on 2008 you can see the possibilities. I'm excited to see what takes place in 2009 and look forward to working with legacy media outlets to figure out how best to include citizen reports in their reporting.