Journalists' use of UGC and automated content : Ethical issues

This chapter discusses the ethical aspects of the increasing use in journalism of user-generated content (UGC) and automated content (content produced by robots). Research has shown that these two phenomena are transforming not only the information that is published by the media, but also the underlying values that rule today’s newswork. These changes in news values and professional practices have relevant ethical implications. Drawing upon several controversial examples, where users or robots were the main source of the news, the opportunities and threats of these emerging practices are examined. These examples show that the main challenge is to blend the journalistic potential of UGC and automated news with the professional standards that guarantee the quality of news. As journalists increasingly share news content production with the public and machines, the concept of journalistic authorship is being redefined. However, deciding what is news remains an essential ethical choice, because it implies pointing out what is socially relevant, what issues the media should pay attention to, and which phenomena deserve to be denounced. These essential aspects of newswork are being subtly transformed by the impact of UGC and robotization.