Does the rise of closed networks spell the end for social newsgathering?

Messaging apps and Chatapps like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Viber, and WeChat are soaring in popularity. This shift means that increasingly, valuable eyewitness media is being shared on these closed networks, away from the social media monitoring technology employed by newsrooms. How significant is this shift, and what are the challenges faced by newsrooms in terms of discovery, verification, and permission requests? And what are the ethics of using content sourced from these spaces when users think they’re sharing with a small number of contacts?

Organised in association with the First Draft News Coalition.