Here is an example of how a listening and conversing journalist can allow the public to make a difference. It may seem a small thing but I dont think so. It represents a shift in mindset, power and ownership. If we wish it to. And if we (journalists/news organisations) can let go.
The Birmingham Post ran a story on how voice stress technology is being used to combat alleged benefit fraud:
A computer listens in on a telephone conversation between a claimant and officials and checks for changes in their voice frequency as they are asked questions, to determine whether they are telling the truth or not.
The original headline - Phone lie detector caught 160 Birmingham cheats - was seen as misleading by a reader who tweeted it. This led to a Post journalist (not the story writer) entering in to a conversation with the reader, an interaction which led to a change in headline to one that more accurately reflected the story content - Phone lie detector led to 160 Birmingham benefit cheat investigations -.
As I said, a seemingly small thing, but indicative of a change in how audiences and journalists can work together to produce a higher standard of journalism.
The twittered conversation can be seen in the pics below.
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