“[W]e speak of the reading public, the listening public, the viewing public. But a computer- and Internet-using public is not really in the same genealogical line as readers, listeners, viewers, consumers. They were all receivers of information. The Net user [...] doesn’t fit that mold. It’s a much more active identity, requiring more active nouns and verbs, which is why it hardly makes sense at all to talk about an Internet “audience.”“ – Jay Rosen

The network is turning traditional journalism upside down. At every stage of the news process – gathering, checking, filtering – technology is empowering ordinary people at the expense of the professionals.

Le journalisme citoyen va-t-il remplacer les médias traditionnels? Enjeux et prédictions. That’s the title of my recently-completed masters thesis. It’s an analysis of collaborative online journalism – from Slashdot to Digg by way of wikis and the blogosphere. I review the arguments of the movement’s evangelists and sceptics and ask whether democratic news can ever replace the traditional media.

The document is in French, and it’s available here [1.40MB, PDF].

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