People who are neither professional journalists nor typical audience members participate in producing journalism for many different reasons, writes Laura Ahva, of University of Tampere. Ahva interviewed 69 actors associated with one of three participatory publications: Cafébabel, Voima, and Södra Sidan.

The interviews confirmed the earlier findings of Nico Carpentier: the actors participated not only to influence the content of journalism (“participation in journalism”), but also in order to pursue various societal agenda (“participation through journalism”).

In addition to Carpentier’s two participatory orientations, Ahva describes three others: Participation with journalism appeals to the actors’ sense of belonging to the journalism producing community.

Participation around journalism is rooted in non-journalistic activities that are somehow related to the journalism producing organization or community, such as cultural events. Finally, participation for journalism is based on the actors’ want to gain journalistic experience and renown.

Ahva’s article “How is Participation Practiced by ‘In-betweeners’ of Journalism?” was published by the journal Journalism Practice. It is available online (abstract free).

Picture: Untitled by kpgolfpro, licence CC0 1.0.