Media Mashup: What Does the MSNBC-Newsvine Mean for Journalism?

MSNBC's purchase of amateur journalism web site Newsvine adds a dose of credibility to so-called "citizen journalism," but also raises questions about how professional and amateur reporters can coexist under one corporate roof.

The deal, which combines Seattle-based Newsvine with Seattle-based MSNBC, is the first acquisition in MSNBC's 11-year history. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The rapidly growing "citizen journalism" movement has emerged in opposition to the so-called "mainstream media." Advocates see citizen journalism as a way to break what they feel is a corporate stranglehold on information.

As such, the MSNBC-Newsvine linkup creates an obvious tension: How can Newsvine maintain its independent, amateur ethos as part of a large news organization staffed by professional reporters? At the same time, how can MSNBC maintain its credibility as it increasingly incorporates amateur news reports?

MSNBC is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft.

"Anytime you have two different cultures under the same roof, there are challenges," Sree Sreenivasan, the dean of students at Columbia Journalism School and an expert on new media, told Portfolio.com. Sreenivasan is also an on-air tech reporter at WNBC-TV.

"User-generated content is fraught with both opportunities and challenges," Sreenivasan said, adding that when professional journalism outfits link up with amateurs, "there is a risk that credibility goes down."

However, Sreenivasan said, "News isn't only what New York Times editors say it is anymore. Users are increasingly influencing news.

"Moving forward, you're going to see a lot of traditional news organizations getting involved with smaller, more nimble outfits," he said.

Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC and publisher of msnbc.com, said Newsvine C.E.O. Mike Davidson will report to him, but he insisted that Newsvine's independence would be ensured.

"We want to understand [Newsvine's technology and processes], but we don't have any agenda," Tillinghast said. "Where companies get into trouble is when they try to impose big-company standards in small companies."

At the same time, Tillinghast hinted that Newsvine's infamous "immaculate hack" of John McCain's web site wouldn't exactly fly at MSNBC.

In that incident, Davidson hacked McCain's website to display a message saying the presidential candidate "has reversed his position and come out in full support of gay marriage ... particularly marriage between passionate females."

Though he declined to say whether the prank would have been allowed under msnbc.com's ethics policy, Tillinghast did say, "We have an overall sense of ethics that we want people to play by."

Tillinghast told the New York Times that stories filed by Newsvine users would have to be verified before appearing on MSNBC.com.

"But we would never say, 'We're not going to put that up because it came through Newsvine.' In fact, just the opposite," Tillinghast said. "We see Newsvine as an excellent source of stories for MSNBC.com."

by Sam Gustin