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The conceptual relationships between what has been called citizen journalism, participatory journalism and crowdsourcing journalism in the context of the evolution of user-generated content (UGC) in the media are examined. The research on user participation in the media, since the first studies of interactivity to the most recent work addressing specific issues such as quality or control, is also reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the relationship between online publishing and citizen participation. The journalistic shift from print to digital publishing, the incidence of high-speed Internet access on user demand for content, and the effect of Web 2.0 technologies on user participation and content creation are noted. Citing researcher Steve Outing's 2005 article "The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism," several types of user involvement are considered including reader comments, the journalistic use of blogs, and reader-created content. The author explores how these different levels of user involvement are present in independent online news site Soitu.es.