Cocomedia

cocomedia
  • Period: January 2007 - December 2008
  • Employer: IBBT
  • Project website: http://projects.ibbt.be/cocomedia/
  • This information last updated: March 13 2008

The classical media landscape has entered an accelerating (r)evolution. The fragmentation of the relatively small Flemish media business and the associated advertisement business is only increasing. ‘User generated content’ has become an important challenge. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other internet giants have turned already into “media enterprises”. Free content (aggregation) and services, together with the associated advertisement model impose a serious challenge to the paying media.

The ambition of this project is to both socially and technologically research how Flemish media companies can work with this community in order to integrate classic journalism with community media. The focus of this project is also set on innovative forms and supporting technologies for moderation, editorial environments and technologies in relation to content aggregation.

An integrated proof-of-concept demonstrator will be created in order to validate the different technologies. A collaborative calendar will service as a communication (input) channel with the community. In order to effectively process the information and “user generated content” that the community generates, using criteria (like reliability of information, relevance …) determined by a media business, it is necessary to research and develop a methodological framework that eases the manual and labor intensive act of moderation. Tools, techniques and modeling languages used for business processes could offer a possible solution.

Descriptions from blogs, comments and reactions, websites and print editions constitute an ideal foundation from which to learn what the current trends are and what the local social groups are up to. These channels are also very useful to gain an insight as to how the local population perceives and experiences specific news and events.

The selection, usage and management of this information constitute another important challenge for this project. Technical research needs to be done in order analyse and categorise these sources of data, so that journalists and moderators can use it together with existing archives and moderated input.

"Collaborative community media’ also opens various possibilities for a more efficient usage of editorial resources (more and more content, which might need to be edited, will be delivered from the readers). The ideas around moderation and ‘networked journalism’ have definitely changed the traditional, gatekeeper role of a journalist. This project also has as the objective to determine what changes are necessary at editorial level so that the available possibilities effectively get used.

From a technological point of view there will be studies as to how various interaction technologies relating to large screen displays can prove their additional value in the editorial room.

Within this project, the consortium will employ a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating not only the technical issues, but also business models, sociological analyses, user and usability issues as well as the legal context and constraints. In relation to valorization, there will be special attention put on the advertisement business, specifically the structure and the processes of that business, their possible impact and the manner in which users can find and consume the new media.

Project website CoCoMedia

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