The trend among television stations toward development of citizen news platforms: PeoPo vs. WEnews platforms in Taiwan as an example

Based on the development of internet, digital media and Web 2.0 technologies, the use of various new media has become a popular trend for both editors and their audiences. The rise of citizen journalism is an outgrowth of this trend, and now more news media are developing their citizen news platforms to ensure they can get more local audience involvement. Even television stations in Taiwan are beginning to develop citizen news platforms online. However, the models for developing and running these news platforms differ significantly between public television stations and commercial ones. This paper discusses the different strategies and content displayed by PeoPo and WEnews platforms with support from public TV versus commercial TV in Taiwan. The research was launched in 2009 and continued through 2010 with researchers collecting news content from PeoPo and WEnews platforms for several months, then comparing the two platforms´ news values, main topics and approaches used by the editors to interact with their audiences. The purpose of the research is to compare public versus commercial TV stations so as to enumerate their different purposes, primary strategies, values and topics, as well as differences in audience reactions. Based on this investigation, the researchers also expect the results of the study will provide some suggestions for other news media interested in developing citizen news platforms or websites.