Move over, Professor! Broadcasting the Wisdom of Crowds: How to transform the audience into a smart participant

Pilu Lydlow (SRF, Switzerland) & Kåre Poulsen (DR, Denmark)

Session 11 SPECIAL SESSION
TUESDAY, 16 MAY, 14:00 (Blue Room)

How can public service make use of the engagement of larger crowds? Can a lot of average people be smarter or provide more accurate insights than experts? This session takes user engagement to a new level. What are the dos and don’ts if you use wisdom of the crowd to co-create new formats together with the public? The ‘wisdom of the crowd’ refers to the phenomenon where the collective opinion of a group of people is often more accurate than the opinion of a single expert. During this session you will get a general and case-based introduction to different ways public service broadcasters across the globe have succesfully connected stronger with the public. You will also learn more about how to connect average brains to get smarter together.We introduce two brand new initiatives where public broadcasters dared to open a new field for the public. And had the patience to see what the crowd would bring to the table.In Japan, scientists and audience connect via an app by collecting massive amounts of data together about topics such as menstruation or wild animals in the city. NHK’s ‘Citizen Lab’ proved a strong tool for public service broadcasting to build a bridge between science and society and make more relevant new science programmes. And in Sweden, 25.000 average chess players finally beat the national grandmaster in a giant online collective 6 hour-long media game; ‘The Grandmaster vs. Sweden’.