IRB Number: 09-0661-X4B

You are invited to participate in a study regarding citizens’ contributions of news content, such as stories, photos, and video to online news publications.

In this study about 1,000 individuals will be asked to complete a survey. The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristics of the citizens who contribute news content to online news publications. Specifically, we are interested in assessing your perceived roles of professional and “citizen” journalists, your reasons for contributing news content, and the affective outcomes resulting in such participation.

The findings will help us better understand the role taken by today’s news audiences in the digital, interactive news climate and how, as information sources, audiences participate in the reporting and distribution of news content.

There are no foreseeable risks associated to this study and your participation is requested in the interest of science and will be of educational value. There are no risks in participating in this study beyond those experienced in everyday life. Given the nature of the online questionnaire, there will be extremely little, if any, psychological or social risks. If any question provokes psychological discomfort, you may skip the question. At any moment in the study, if you encounter any form of discomfort, you may withdraw from the survey.

The information collected from this survey will be accessible only to the researchers. No information of a personal nature will be solicited with the exclusion of your zip code for the sole purpose of assessing community structural associations. The online questionnaire will contain no markers for the input of personal identification information. All responses are strictly anonymous. However, while Internet technology can provide reasonable security, there is always a risk that a third party may intercept the survey answers.

If you have questions, you may contact the principal investigator, Dr. Deborah Chung (dchung@uky.edu, 859-257-3021) or Dr. Seungahn Nah (seungahn.nah@uky.edu, 859-257-1509) at the University of Kentucky. If you have any questions about your rights as a volunteer in this research, contact the staff in the Office of Research Integrity at the University of Kentucky at 859-257-9428 or toll free at 1-866-400-9428.

Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you withdraw from the study before data collection is completed, your data will be destroyed.