User-Generated Content in Malaysian Newsrooms: Prospect and Challenges

Research on User-Generated Content (UGC) is growing steadily around the world. This is because, UGC not only influences the news content, but also the overall practice of journalism. Within the scope of citizen journalism, UGC blurs the boundaries between producers and consumers of content because of audience engagement that contributes to collaboration in journalism practice. The use of technologies such as social media redefines an epistemology of journalism that we have not thought about before. This study examines the prospects and challenges of UGC application in Malaysian newsrooms in particular the incorporation of UGC into professional journalism practice in three newsrooms: Berita Harian, Harian Metro and Sin Chew Daily. Using the research method of in-depth interviews with seven news editors and online editors in these three newspapers, the results of the study showed that UGC was incorporated in the construction of these newspaper news in moderation. Audience engagement occurs only at the level of source preparation of news material and nothing more than that. However, viral events are still considered very potential material to be verified and published. This shows that UGC is practically useful in Malaysian newsrooms, but its application is still limited. At the same time, social media is seen as a very important tool by journalists to interact with the audience.