Editing with algorithms: the citizen journalism of AllVoices

Posted by Emma Heald on March 6, 2009 at 11:13 AM on editorsweblog.org (a publication of the World Editors Forum)

Given the financial difficulties that the traditional media are facing, it would a perfect time for citizen journalism outlets to flourish, as they can try to fill in the gaps left by reporting cuts. And indeed, citizen journalism venture AllVoices seems to be taking advantage of this: launched last year, the site passed the million unique visitors mark in January, not a small feat for a site with only six fulltime members of staff. The Editors Weblog spoke to AllVoices founder Amra Tareen about the reasons for AllVoices' success and her vision for its role in the journalism world.

AllVoices places its contributors' reports alongside aggregated stories from mainstream media: each section is clearly distinguished by colour and title. Any of the sites' thousands of users, once they have created a profile, can upload a report or other content. Stories are categorised according to topic, and given a credibility rating out of five. They can later be added to, commented on or ranked by other users. Tareen was passionate about her project, explaining that the aftermath of 9/11 and the US's decision to go to war in Iraq had persuaded her that the views of the mainstream media were not always enough, and she was inspired to create a global news network that would "provide a 360 degree view" and allow people from all over the world to communicate "around real issues that impact all of us." She made the valid point that an eyewitness account will always be coming from a different view point to one written across the world.

News without editors

AllVoices does not have a member of staff editing the site; it relies purely on its proprietary algorithms and its community. Tareen described this as the "YouTube principle," and emphasised that producing an edited product was not the aim of the site, rather "our goal is to publish what people want to create and to provide multiple points of view." She was confident that the site's users were capable of "making their own decisions as to what they want to believe in." The site is not trying to provide authoritative news, rather to offer different points of view and allow readers to come to their own conclusions about what is actually happening. Staff only check content if it is flagged by another community member.

So rather than an editor choosing articles for the front page of the site, the decision is based on a variety of criteria - credibility, popularity and whether the news is breaking - which are assessed by algorithms. Initially, the algorithms identify a contributor's location based on the computer's IP address or mobile phone network: "we code to city level," Tareen specified. The system also carries out contextual analysis to decide on a topic category for the report, such as business, politics or entertainment. Algorithms then assess a report's credibility based on whether other people both in and outside of the community are reporting on similar issues, on whether other members of the community are adding to it, and on other users' ratings. Contextual analysis can also highlight problems such as copyright violation, for example, and the algorithms will assess whether a story is breaking news. The algorithms and other technology are being constantly refined by AllVoices staff, which includes three engineers, and two professors from Northwestern university who advise.

The algorithms, though extremely useful in establishing reliability, are only 80% accurate, explained Tareen: "You need some human interaction and this is what we are trying to get the community to do, to put the icing on the cake." So users are actively encouraged to rate other contributor's articles, and those pieces which are ranked highly by both the algorithms and the people will be more visible. Stories start off on a city page, chosen based on the geo-coding technology, and then can move up to regional and global pages if they "catch momentum" by receiving many hits and high rankings.

Citizen journalism melds with social networking

All contributors must create a profile, which also is the basis for the community's social networking feature. There is a personal messaging system for communication between members, where Tareen feels is crucial for forming a community, as is a certain level of engagement in the site: the ability to add comments or further content such as pictures. There is also a recommendation engine, which will show users what mainstream media and other bloggers are saying about the news on which they are writing.

Cash for the best articles

AllVoices started an 'Excellence in Citizen Media Incentive Program' in August which allows contributors to earn cash when they reach a certain number of readers and a high level of credibility for their articles. Tareen explained that she had been astonished to discover that "there were many freelance writers out there who don't even get paid," and so decided to do something about it. The six month programme is intended to "attract and incentivise great writers." Tareen clarified that a contributor whose articles had been viewed over a million times and had met other criteria could have earned USD 10,000. Users can keep track of their earnings on their profile page. As well as the money, AllVoices helps to promote good content through "social media marketing and search engine optimisation."

As yet, the project is not financially self-sufficient, and Tareen explained that she is working on a proposal for another round of funding. The site was launched with $4.5million of equity funding. The hope is that the site will make enough money from advertising to cover costs and become profitable, and as the site offers "niche communities within communities" there is significant potential for targeted advertising. But until the site reaches seven or eight million unique visitors per month, Tareen clarified, advertising revenue will not be sufficient. For now, the AllVoices team is keeping marketing and other costs as low as possible. "Once we become a really big site then monetising will not be a problem," added Tareen, but until then "we will have to be very creative and make sure that the viral marketing aspects kick in."

An alternative to traditional media?

Tareen vehemently stressed that AllVoices is not aiming to replace mainstream media in any way, rather she sees AllVoices as an alternative voice to complement traditional publications, and a way for anybody who chooses to have a chance to interact with a global audience. "There are some people who want to hear what other members of the public are saying, and there are other people who will always want to go to professionals," she believes. "I don't think one will replace the other, I think we augment."

Citizen journalism can indeed play an important role in supplementing traditional reporting and contributing to a global dialogue on news, if its credibility can be maintained. More and more citizen journalism sites, such as Citizenside, are using proprietary technology to judge the authenticity of user content. While the algorithms' ability to effectively assess reliability is impressive, AllVoices' decision to eliminate the eye of a human editor does mean that the site will always be lacking that professional touch which could lift it from an informative and engaging community to a valuable news source.

Posted by Emma Heald on March 6, 2009 at 11:13 AM on editorsweblog.org (a publication of the World Editors Forum)

http://www.editorsweblog.org/analysis/2009/03/editing_with_algorithms_the_citizen_jour.php