The risk of co-authoring, to me, is in deciding for someone else what is important to tell. I don't want that power, and I don't feel qualified to speak for another person in that way. (digital storytelling facilitator)

Related to the facilitator’s role in surfacing story, there is also a heightened concern around ethics and transparency in this collaborative work.  Specifically, there is a tension between the "ideal" of leaving no fingerprints on a digital story and the facilitator’s active participation in co-authorship or co-production.  ​Certainly, there is a power dynamic established between the facilitator and the storytelling participant, even as the storyteller is clearly seen as the author and therefore taken to be the authority when it comes to his or her story.  The survey and interview data reflect a heightened awareness among facilitators that the storyteller’s authorship and agency are at stake when a facilitator steps in.  And yet, despite the ideal, many facilitators also recognize the value of this co-creative space.  While respondents differ on where to draw the line between “surfacing” and producing a story, they appear to agree on what constitutes failure in digital storytelling:  a story that the teller no longer recognizes…perhaps not even the story s/he would have told.  The foremost goal is to serve the storyteller’s truth.    Back to Stories from the Field...

I think it's beautiful to truly collaborate, and I love lending my skills and sensibilities to help others. It's still their life, their words, their images... I am just there to help preserve and help produce these stories. (digital storytelling facilitator)