OPA: CBSNews.com exec talks 'micro journalism'

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Traditional media in the US has recognised a new generation of competitors - the 'micro journalist' - and intends to get with them.

Speaking at the OPA forum for the future, in London, Betsy Morgan, senior vice president of digital media with CBSNews.com, said (and extended a Jeff Jarvis idea?) a new breed of journalists - experts and authoritative voices in niche areas - had developed out of the blogging world and CBS needed to work with them to extend its reach.

Ms Morgan added that CBSNews.com was also giving away branded video content to drive viewers back to its own sites and enhance awareness of the service.

She said: "They are bloggers that aren't necessarily trained journalists but are becoming experts in certain niche topics, who have robust presence on the web and an audience and a continued dialogue. They are the new world of micro journalism.

"Where those micro journalists sit is between the trained traditional journalist and the casual couch blogger, it's an area that is really interesting to us.

"We can harness that expertise in micro areas where CBS News might not have great deep expertise. Those micro journalists can be really useful to us.

"The challenge is identifying who those people are and how we pluck them out."

She added that CBS was looking at ways to utilize 'micro journalists' in its reports.

"A great area of opportunity for us is the '08 presidential election [in the US] and how we engage those micro journalist and how we go out and cover the election with our own journalists on the road following candidates.

"There is a great way to supplement our coverage with other people that are out on the road and we are beginning to figure that out now."