Balancing Between Open and Closed

Abstract

This study examines the impact of co-creation on magazine journalism by drawing on data from a structured, sequenced online co-creation process in an established consumer magazine. Co-creation is examined as a method for open journalism. Co-creation surprises and even shocks journalists, as they face the “real” reader, in intensive online reader engagement, instead of the imagined “ideal reader.” Journalists compromise quality, feature journalism to comply with readers’ wishes, thus breaking the reader contract and consistency in the magazine concept. Co-creation created a strong feeling of ownership over the magazine among readers; however, the end result was disappointment for both journalists and readers due to the failed content-integration process. Co-creation established a connection between the readers, which strengthened the magazines’ community-creator function. The findings indicate that co-creation is a more challenging method in journalism than crowdsourcing. This article contributes to the study of open journalism and the digital future of magazines.

Keywords:

• co-creation
• consumer magazines
• crowdsourcing
• customization
• open journalism
• participatory journalism
• reader contract
• reader–magazine relationship

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful for constructive and encouraging comments from Heikki Luostarinen, Kaarina Nikunen and Fred Turner.

Notes

1. Open journalistic practices have received scholarly criticism from the division of labor perspective, a common argument being the abuse of free labor as a result of user participation (cf. Hesmondhalgh 2010). Due to the chosen framing, this article does not examine this aspect, leaving the motivation and reward aspect to the forthcoming publications of the author.

2. The reader contract is similar to the author–reader contract and author–reader relationship noted in literature theory, in which rhetorical roles for author and reader are constructed (Iser 1974; Sherman 1998).

3. The online participants are referred to as “users” and “readers” interchangeably.

4. Pictures of the nine most active participants were published in a magazine, featured as the “magazine’s reader staff.”