Crowdsourcing = Rip-off
Jeff Howe defines the word “crowdsourcing” as the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. Howe also defines it as “The application of Open Source principles to fields outside of software.” Personally, I define crowdsourcing as an amateur attempt or a professional without creditentials. I may be so bold and say that the products of crowdsourcing are rip-offs. At the very least, crowdsourcing is a serious threat to professionals, not only in their work, but also in the value of time professionals have spent studying in their respective fields. I could have used this method to get my career in journalism by writing editorials, sending them out to newspapers, and become a published writer. Instead I am taking the time to learn the skills and methods of a true journalist to become a professional.
Take the recent failed-terror plot that occurred in Dallas last week. Anyone could have used crowdsourcing to write about that story, put their name on it, and sell it for a much lower price than that of a journalist. And why should the buyer pay more for the professional’s work when the crowdsourcer’s work rivals the professional’s? Personally, if I were to do that with this story, I would 1) search every major news network and newspaper, 2) use the quotes from the people interviewed (Smadi’s friends and ex-roommate), 3) call up the FBI office that has information on the case, 4) call Smadi’s lawyer to get a statement from him, and voila! I can write a full article telling the story of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian homesick teenager who was, according to his ex-roommate, lonely and suicidal in the last few months.
I could stoop even lower than that and just use the information written in the articles and re-write it to sell it. For example, if I wanted to sell the article to Seventeen magazine (bad magazine example, but I think you’ll get my point), I just have to write the article so that it’s using my words in telling the story and put my name on it. Maybe I could even include a picture of Smadi from the trusty search-engine Google, point some arrows at various points on his face, and comment on how he could’ve avoided taking such a bad mug shot.
I reiterate, crowdsourcing is a bad idea and it takes work away from professionals who actually know what they’re doing. In this economically hard time, I can understand why companies would find crowdsourcing appealing, but bottom line, it’s unfair.
October 26, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Remember, crowdsourcing should NEVER be your primary source for reporting or writing a story. Let’s take your Smadi story. Let’s say you take all the steps you mention in the process of fully reporting your story, but want to find other neighbors, co-workers, of Smadi? Yes, you would have to verify identify, talk to them on the phone and even interview them in-person. Perhaps that leads to that follow up story your assignment editor is bugging you for? Certainly, Jeff Howe’s example do point to examples of individuals creating revenue, but not all crowdsourcing should be done that way.