Not so long ago, job titles like “aggregator in chief” and “curator” would have sounded completely foreign to those working in newsrooms across the country. However, as aggregation continues to gain importance to news outlets both large and small, these types of positions are becoming increasingly commonplace.
As inVocus previously reported, a growing number of newspapers and websites have begun in the last couple of years to incorporate aggregation into their formal business models. This trend shows no sign of slowing down and has even begun to reach the smaller community papers. The Register Citizen in Torrington, Conn., announced in April that it was adding a full-time curator, Jenny Golfin, to its staff. The paper explained that a number of factors played into this decision, including the proliferation of hyperlocal news sites such as Patch.com. In the past, smalltown readers would have had only one or two local newspapers from which to choose. Now they are are faced with multiple news sources that take time to sort through and can lead to information overload.
This is where a content curator such as Golfin comes in. In an email interview, Golfin explained that she chooses which stories, blogs and social media links to post on the Register Citizen website by following her publisher’s basic guideline: “If it’s interesting to you then it’s probably interesting to someone else.” Golfin went on to speculate that more small news outlets would most likely be hiring staff dedicated solely to aggregation, such as herself. “I think it’s a good option for papers that are short-staffed because it provides a way to have new content on their websites all day instead of the same stories for the entire day,” she said. “This gives followers a reason to come back throughout the day.”
Larger media outlets are also continuing the quest to capitalize on the demand for curated content by adjusting their aggregation strategies. Online magazine Slate recently unveiled Slatest, a blog with a format similar to Huffington Post that links to select articles from outside sources. Edited by recently appointed aggregator in chief Josh Voorhees, Slatest is updated frequently throughout the day and offers not only links and summaries of stories, but also analysis and commentary from editorial staff. As Slate editor David Plotz told Nieman Journalism Lab in a recent interview, this feature is “an active bet on the notion that voice really matters. Having not simply summary, but summary with analysis.”
The success of heavily opinion-based aggregation sites such as Gawker.com would seem to indicate that readers do indeed crave some editorial perspective when clicking on linked stories. Steven Rosenbaum, author of Curation Nation, recently wrote on Huffington Post about this shift away from an automated approach towards a more human-based approach. He pointed out that Google News originally boasted that its content was “‘generated entirely by computer algorithms without human editors,’” but now includes a feature called “Editors’ Picks,” which highlights stories selected by editors from various publications. Rosenbaum went on to suggest that publishers and editors are “more and more where readers are going for clarity and editorial ‘voice’ in a world of too-much information. Human curators pick up where robot editors leave off.”
Yet while news organizations continue to develop their editorial approach to aggregation in order to meet the needs of the consumer, the practice still raises considerable ire within segments of the journalism community. Huffington Post recently suspended writer Amy Lee over what they deemed an “over aggregated post” that towed the line between plagiarism and aggregation. This highly publicized incident – and reactions to it within the media – highlighted the many ways in which the field of journalism is still struggling to establish boundaries and standards when it comes to curated content.
As aggregation continues to face resistance within traditional journalism and works to forge a clear role within existing news organizations, it continues to stand out as one of the most prominent trends within the new media landscape. Moving forward we can expect to see more outlets adding curatorial staff who are dedicated solely to selecting content and placing it within a personalized, human context.
–Katrina Wolfe
