Wikifying the CBC: Social software at CBC Radio 3

This presentation will provide a behind the scenes look at how CBC Radio 3 developed a Canadian Music Wiki where music fans and professionals can collaborate, communicate and create a rich cultural hub of Canadian knowledge for Canadians. CBC Radio 3 has a track record in developing innovative digital initiatives. As primarily an online service based in Vancouver, it is somewhat under the corporate radar so has some leeway to experiment.

However, mainstream media have struggled to incorporate wikis, even though participatory online media has allowed a new generation of users to shift from being producers to being creators of content. This presentation will explore how CBC Radio 3 has balanced the need to provide an open and creative space with the desire of a public broadcaster to publish high quality user-generated content.

CBC is facing multiple challenges in a fragmented, digital media environment. But it plays a key part in promoting Canadian culture. The wiki is an extension of CBC’s role in the maintenance and development of national identity and cultural sovereignty through programming that is predominantly and distinctively Canadian. It is one way of establishing a Canadian presence in an online environment largely dominated by US-based interests. Providing a collaborative space for Canadians to come together and share their passion about Canadian culture reimagines the remit of the CBC for the Internet age.
 

Alfred Hermida is a digital media scholar, journalism educator and online news pioneer. Since 2006, he has been an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia. Through his research at UBC, and his earlier work at the BBC, he has built an international reputation as an authority on new media, with his work appearing in Journalism Practice and New Media and Society. His research interests include participatory journalism, social media and emerging genres of digital journalism. Prof Hermida is an award-winning journalist, having been a founding news editor of the BBC News website in 1997. During 16 years at the BBC, he worked in TV, radio and online, covering regional, national and international news. His work also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, The Guardian and NPR.  He blogs on trends in digital journalism at Reportr.net.
 

John Paolozzi is the web editor for CBC Radio 3. He joined up with CBC3 back in 2005 after cutting his teeth on CBC's ZeD, first as a researcher in the short films dept, and later working as an associate producer in guests and special projects.

Amanda Ash is freelance journalist based out of Vancouver, BC, who will be graduating with her Master of Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia in May 2010. Arts and culture reporting is her area of specialization, but music journalism is her forte. For the past few months, she has been working for CBC Radio 3 to create a Canadian music wiki. She regularly freelances for The Block Magazine and Exclaim! Magazine, and serves as a juror for the Polaris Music Prize. You can find her blogging about Canadian independent music at www.theindiefiles.com. Her Twitter handle is @AmandaAsh.