His research focuses on changes in journalistic practices, social media and emerging genres of journalism, and has been published in Journalism Studies and Journalism Practice. An online news pioneer, he was a founding news editor of BBCNews.com and was a BBC correspondent in the Middle East for four years. He co-authored Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers and is currently writing a book on the impact of social media on the news. A regular commentator in the media, his work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, PBS, BBCNews.com and the Nieman Journalism Lab. Read more about Alfred’s work on his award-winning blog, reportr.net.