Betsy O'Donovan, Carolyn Nielsen present research at virtual AEJMC conference

WWU Assistant Professor of Journalism Betsy O'Donovan and Professor of Journalism Carolyn Nielsen presented their research, "Curious Citizens: Whose voices are heard in 'people-powered' reporting," on Aug. 7 at the virtual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference. 

Their study examined public radio news stories produced using a new platform, Hearken, that seeks to involve the audience in deciding which stories are covered, how they are covered, and whose voices appear in the coverage. They found stories produced using the Hearken platform featured more voices of people speaking about their lived experiences and fewer elite sources speaking for others. This was a significant departure from decades' worth of studies showing how elite voices dominate news coverage while voices of lived experience are marginalized or absent.