Mashup Journalism

Sometimes I am really impressed by the BBC.  Despite its image as stodgy, old fashioned Auntie Beeb, there really are some very creative and forward-looking people working there.  

Right now BBC news are running an experiment in mashup journalism.  As well as regular reports on BBC TV news, journalist Ben Hammersley is reporting on the upcoming Turkish elections through a variety of Web 2.0 sites.  All the feeds are then mashed together at Ben’s BBC page.  The page takes feeds from YouTube, Flickr, Delicious, Twitter, Google Maps and the journalist's own personal blog.

One disappointment though is that the BBC have been very conservative about reader interaction.  Despite billing this as an experiment in social media, there's nowhere on the mashup page for me to leave comments, no trackbacks, no real opportunity for anyone else to participate.  Come on BBC, you are nearly there. Take a few more risks. You have a great opportunity here to have a dynamic conversation with your audience.  Don't just treat it as another broadcast exercise.  Open up a little bit more, embrace user-generated content and see what emerges.

Technorati tags: BBC, Mashups, Journalism, Ben Hammersley, Mashing, YouTube, Flickr, Delicious, Google Maps, social media, social computing