Use of free labour in the media within the scope of citizen journalism A case study of the main news bulletin on Show TV

Citizens' ability to interact with content and participate in its production has enabled shifts in journalism techniques. Citizens' ability to record experiences, thanks to digital technologies and internet usage, has offered new perspectives on the news and helped place certain events on the agenda. Media organisations are now using user-generated content derived from images submitted by the public to report news that their reporters do not have access to. This research addresses the process by which media organisations exploit free labour by incorporating images captured by citizens into their broadcasts. To this end, news coverage on Show TV from May 9 to 15, 2022 and May 9 to 15, 2023 was analysed, with content analysis conducted to determine the proportion of non-professional images in the broadcasts. An in-depth interview was also conducted with the person in charge of Show TV's WhatsApp Notification Line, which allows citizens to contribute to news production and gain insight into the operational processes of this structure. The findings that while the use of citizen-generated content varies from newscast to newscast, such images are present in every broadcast and enable the exploitation of free labour and the creation of value.