Central Collection Workflow: How it works
The following diagram charts the process by which central collection works, from a citizen journalist recording an event, to registering with a station’s central collection site, to seeing it on the news.
- Joe Q. Citizen records an event with his digital camera.
- Joe Q. Citizen logs onto his favorite station’s central collection site.
- He is prompted to:
- Register -- Provide contact information, which is necessary to verify the source, validate the story and confirm receipt.
- Upload his file
- Write a brief description
- Tag the content according to subject matter: (weather, human interest, education, sports, health, traffic, politics)
- Agree to any legal waivers the station would like to (or not to) institute
- central collection worksite runs anti-virus scan before accepting the files
- central collection sends a confirmation to Joe Q. Citizen
- Administrator receives notification of a new posting. Administrator can choose when to view the files.
- As more citizens post stories, a repository of stories is built, that newsroom staff members can reference and search through at their convenience.
- Administrator selects a story.
- Based on the information provided during the registration and upload, the station administrator or journalist checks facts and verifies the story.
- Story airs on the local news.Joe Q. Citizen tunes into the news, and tells all of his friends that it was his story.
Registration for Citizen Journalists is left to the discretion of the station. Citizen journalists who register are given the title, citizen news reporter, which enhances their status and the gives a sense of importance to their contribution. There are two ways for a station to consider registration. On the one hand, requiring a citizen journalist to register will limit pranksters and ensure that a story and source can be verified. On the other hand, it will discourage those journalists that prefer anonymity. But, the beauty of an on-demand central collection site, is that registration, and any other requirements for that matter, can be customized in minutes. So the validation process for submission can
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