User talk:Tomsaez

The Matlow Factor
The Matlow Factor defines the work done in blogs or other media by non-journalistic-trained individuals who perform at the same level as academically trained journalists and who receive the highest level of coverage for their work.

The concept was first mentioned by Jennifer Connic in an article in the blog outside.in and posted by Esther Brown on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010.

As described by Connic, The Matlow Factor refers to the citizen journalistic practice of Wesportnews.com Dave Matlow, that is done at a professional level quality without the remuneration of a professional journalist.

Connic goes to describe this effect with the following words: "I consider someone a professional journalist because they’ve had formal journalism training—not because they get paid for their reporting, which is what many would associate with the term ‘professional.’ She notes that in today’s changing media landscape, there are a lot of out-of-work reporters who are blogging for free, but that they remain trained professionals first and ‘bloggers,’ second...I have all the respect in the world for [citizen journalists]. There are a lot of people in my industry that frown on citizen journalists, but there are a lot of people out there who are not trained who are doing great things. I call it the ‘Matlow factor'", she says.

Per Esther Brown in her blog entry, Connic (is) referring to Dave Matlow, a ‘citizen journalist,’ she worked with while she served as the editor of WestportNow. “Dave’s work has been picked up by the AP, he knows what to look for at a scene, and he knows what kind of information to bring [to his editor]—and he’s not a professional journalist,” Connic says. Links:

http://blog.outside.in/2010/03/16/bloggers-we-love-jen-connic

http://www.westportnow.com

http://millburn.patch.com/