When Wired magazine first used the term crowdsourcing in 2006, it referred to “the productive potential of millions of plugged-in enthusiasts.” It didn’t take long for news organizations to take advantage of that potential to develop and report stories.
The Brian Lehrer show on WNYC, the NPR station in New York, now has regular crowdsourcing projects, asking listeners to collect and share information that the station then maps online. This example–Are You Being Gouged–focuses on the wide variation in prices for basic items across the New York City area. The result is both interesting and interactive, but is the station doing enough to add meaning to the data?
