Newspaper journalists are apprehensive about the increased participation of readers in generating content, according to a survey from University of New South Wales researchers.

A majority (69%) of journalists favoured increased levels of interaction with their audience; 33% of the editors and journalists surveyed were against the idea of user-generated content, mainly owing to concerns about the types of content readers might wish to contribute, and the time/resources needed to prepare such material for publication.

Journalists are also uncertain about the quality of the news product over which they preside: 38% thought the quality of Australian newspaper journalism was “excellent”, while 34% said it was “average” and 28% rated it “poor”.