WBUR gets into Flickr in a big way…
You may have noticed many wbur.org photo galleries are hosted on Flickr these days. And why not? Sure, we sacrifice monetized “clicks” (and let’s face it, we are talking digital pennies here when contrasted to analog dollars), but in exchange, we get Flickr’s functionality, which we then can leverage to generate conversation about ‘BUR in ways not possible with our custom-built photo gallery. For my money, I think that conversation is of more value then all the accumulated pennies. And in all frankness, I hated how we would shoe-horn photographs into templates that failed to do justice to the images themselves. (Exhibit one: Photo above taken by WBUR arts reporter Andrea Shea, who has captured some stunning images, demonstrating what can happen when you equip your reporters with digital cameras—standard issue now at WBUR).
My thanks go to all of you who are participating in the “Listener Photo Project.” Rooting about in the back of my mind when I started this Flickr Group was the unexpressed idea that this may represent the embryonic beginnings of a “citizens journalism” initiative. As minds wiser than mine have observed, user-generated content that resembles journalism (however rudimentary you want to define it) is sprouting and taking root in online spaces. Within the rarefied warrens of WBUR, this vast reservoir of user-generated content is starting to make an impression with the suit-and-tie crowd that I report to.
Recently I started a group called “Radio With Pictures” (hat-tip to Radio Boston’s David Boeri who coined the phrase—and who isn’t nearly as angry as his mug-shot would suggest) that I invite you to join. Its purpose is to provide a Flickr interface/doorway to WBUR-produced on-air offerings. Have a look and let me know what you think in the comment section below, in the group, via e-mail (wburnewmedia@yahoo.com) or you can always “tweet” me.
Thanks again.
I’m now listening to Andrea’s report on the master violin maker. I got there via flickr, so putting the photos on flickr brings traffic to the WBUR site after all.
But actually it was the WBUR twitter account, which lead me to this blog, which then pointed me to flickr, where I then followed the link to WBUR.
Point well taken.
Next post: The beauty of Twitter…
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