Esa Sirkkunen

Crowdsourced news reporting: supporting news content creation with mobile phones

As news organizations are moving towards systematically using the power of crowds in news reporting, mobile phones are potential mobile tools for reader reporters. We conducted two user studies to support the development of future mobile crowdsourcing processes and mobile tools for news reporting. In a quasi-experiment on future mobile crowdsourcing process with location-based assignments, SMS messages were experienced as an easy and handy means for news assignments. A customized mobile client prototype was preferred for submission of multimedia content (photo and video), since submission was experienced simple to use and reliable especially for videos. Based on our findings and earlier research we discuss implications for the development of mobile crowdsourcing processes with mobile news reporting assignments.

What’s in a Niche? Exploring the Business Model of Online Journalism

Abstract There has been much discussion about a shift from general news towards a marketplace of niche. We have examined the business models of 69 journalistic online-only startups in 2011–12 in ten countries operating a sustainable niche. We correlate our findings against Chris Anderson’s long-tail Internet model to explore if it can explain the marketplace of niche journalism. We find that the long tail model goes some way to explain the business model of journalistic content creation. However, it does not allow for the complexities around niche that generate revenues around platforms, selling technology or information on a business-tobusiness basis.

Journalism in virtual reality: opportunities and future research challenges

This paper presents a state-of-the-art overview of journalism and its opportunities and challenges in virtual reality (VR). First, we examine what kind of real-life journalistic experiments have been made in this field thus far, and then we analyze the research literature on journalistic VR. We discuss the emergence of virtual reality and immersive journalism explored in the latest reports in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and VR design. To analyze VR journalism further, we develop an early draft of an analysis model based on sample of three VR productions and four VR applications. We conclude by discussing the results of the analysis and outline a more advanced and interdisciplinary research approach for studying and designing journalistic VR productions.

A Field Trial on Mobile Crowdsourcing of News Content Factors Influencing Participation

We conducted a five-week field trial on mobile crowdsourcing of hyperlocal news content to 1) understand the readers’ experiences and 2) explore factors affecting their participation. In the end of the study the participants were surveyed with an online questionnaire (17/104 respondents) and five participants were interviewed. Although respondents and interviewees were enthusiastic about the trial, the activity in the trial was low. Results indicate that participant characteristics (age, gender, participation motivations and hobbyist background in photography) and task characteristics in terms of the subjectively perceived task significance (possible impact on important issues in the environment or on community), task relevance (related to the background and participation motivation), and task engagingness have an effect on the participation. In addition, participation was influenced by the estimated needed effort vs. the expected benefit (monetary benefit or having a possibility to influence), vicinity to the assignment location, enjoyment of the activity, and the monetary reward. To plan and manage the crowdsourcing activity the news publishers need information about the characteristics of the participants, participation patterns and motivations that could be provided by the crowdsourcing platform.

Assisting immersive virtual reality development with user experience design approach

In our study we explored how to design a biography of a late Finnish artist as a VR experience. We conducted a development process assisted by user experience (UX) design methods, which increased the process efficiency, and resulted in a research prototype. Through previous research and our development process, we identified components affecting the user experience. These components are: Immersion, Presence, Disorientation, Sense of Control, Pleasantness, Exploration and Simulator Sickness. From our user study with 13 participants, we were able to draw implications that relate to these components. While the set of components could be incomplete or subject to change, shows that further research is necessary for a more comprehensive knowledge of user experience in the field of Virtual reality.