I, Reporter

links for 2006-02-01

• cybersoc.com: apple climbs on the citizen journalist bandwagon
  Well, not really, I think. Here's a bit of classic hype: calling a camera built in to a laptop a "citizen journalism" tool. Um, nope, it's basically there for chat and conferencing. Note the irony of the "embedded reporter" phrase. See my comment.
  (tags: citizen+journalism PR+marketing hype tools technology photos problems disagreement our+comments)
• Narrative Journalism, CitJ and The Bakersfield Californian (Journalism Hope)
  "Our overriding mantra for citizen journalism is, "Journalism is a conversation," and we want people from all walks of life to sit down at the table and join in."
  (tags: citizen+journalism community conversation California conversational+media journalism media venues roles)

links for 2006-01-31

• Enclave: That Which Is Concretely Conceivable
  "The neighborhood is "concretely conceivable" and the city is not, except as the latter is "organically integrated" through its neighborhoods. The same can be said about a region."
  (tags: community citizen+journalism Tennesee scope our+comments our+coverage analysis)
• Utopian Hell: The Citizen Journalist
  "There can be citizen – and the opposite – civic journalist blogs. One that caters to the old form of paid-for media and one that caters to a more honest, direct form of conversation."
  (tags: citizen+journalism diversity conversational+media conversation content+strategy mainstream+media media)

links for 2006-01-29

• Who has the best cell phone coverage on the Coastside? (Coastsider: Half Moon Bay and Coastside news)
  Good example of using a good question to create collaborative citJ. Editor Barry Parr poses a question that's directly relevant to all kinds of folks in Coastsider's coverage area, and gets useful comments. Together they make a story.
  (tags: citizen+journalism Bay+Area venues skills community collaboration content+strategy)
• Rox Populi: The New Journalism
  "The interesting thing about this "citizen journalism" business is that you can both complain about political influence peddling and accept an invitation to an all-expense paid media junket to Amsterdam. Uh, because YOU can't be influenced?"
  (tags: citizen+journalism credibility ethics our+comments problems blogs Netherlands)
• Tagged News Forum - News 2.0 is not Journalism
  Intriguing discussion sparked by Topix.net chief Rich Skrenta's post on citizen journalism which I bookmarked above. Worth reading.
  (tags: citizen+journalism commentary community content+quality journalism trends)
• News 2.0 is not Journalism (Topix.net Weblog)
  "The quality of journalism today is mostly really good. In fact it's too good. The product costs a huge amount to bring to market. The net enables an alternative built for zero, providing a different value proposition."
  (tags: citizen+journalism economics community content+strategy content+quality trends local venues)
• Tinfinger: The distributed newsroom
  "CJ ventures should fill the gaps between MSM coverage, and give voice to those who are not the MSM's primary sources of information. CJ should not be a stepping stone for budding content professionals; a recruitment arm of the media industrial complex."
  (tags: citizen+journalism content+strategy content+quality credibility analysis mainstream+media media trends diversity)
• Local ain’t easy (BuzzMachine)
  "If, instead, you can find ways to harness (aggregate, link to, make searchable, whatever) the content that people create under their own control and connected with their own identities (aka trust), then I think that will be superior."
  (tags: local journalism citizen+journalism reviews venues business economics problems)

links for 2006-01-27

• Dissecting Dan (Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media )
  "Community can’t be created or imposed. Smart media should find ways to add the rest of the iceberg to their mix — not attempt to recreate it — creating a much fuller partnership of citizen and journalist and much richer and more interesting media."
  (tags: analysis citizen+journalism community collaboration journalism mainstream+media media our+comments our+coverage problem+solving trends)
• The Costs and Benefits of Interaction (Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits)
  "The intensely difficult job of a professional journalist is to use every tool available,to discover and then present a larger picture to help others expand their worldviews. Participating in a community conversation is one powerful tool for doing that."
  (tags: analysis content+strategy content+quality context conversation conversational+media community media mainstream+media problem+solving public+conversation)
• Dispersed Community = Little Citizens Journalism?
  "Lack of awareness of the Bay Area as a community ...an intriguing notion. If it's true, wouldn't it be a hurdle for citizens journalism projects in rapidly growing exurbs that are sprawling all over the U.S.?"
  (tags: Bay+Area blogs citizen+journalism community problems venues our+comments our+coverage)
• Can the Web Be a Community? (Newsome.Org)
  "Can we build cross-blog communities (not to be confused with clubs where you have to be invited to join) based on shared interests?"
  (tags: citizen+journalism blogs community problem+solving analysis)
• Citizen journalism code launched (CyberJournalist.net)
  "The National Union of Journalsits just published the Witness Contributors’ Code of Practice to address the important issues raised by the phenomenon of "citizen journalism." -- which is a start, although it misses the big picture, as I commented.
  (tags: citizen+journalism organizations mainstream+media media newspapers problem+solving our+comments)
• Citizen Journalism: Making New Mistakes (First Draft by Tim Porter)
  "Fewer people seem interested in the goings-on in Boulder or Bethesda than in posting vacation photos. Some of that discrepancy arises from the relative ease of uploading a photo compared to writing a report on the local sewer board."
  (tags: citizen+journalism Colorado Maryland problem+solving problems tools venues evolution skills our+comments)
• jack/zen: Action listening
  "The only way to see if a market (of early adopters) exists is to pilot/field-test the innovation real-time. To prototype and learn from the experience is “action listening.” Excellent point relevant to citizen journalism!
  (tags: citizen+journalism attitude evolution problem+solving media PR+marketing)
• Noted `citizen journalism' site tosses in towel (Chicago Tribune | Steven Johnson)
  "I've always had my doubts about "citizen journalism," the idea, very roughly speaking, that "ordinary" people can be motivated to provide meaningful and detailed coverage of their own communities on a volunteer basis."
  (tags: Bay+Area citizen+journalism venues skepticism problems our+comments)

UK: New "Code of Practice" for "Witness Contributors"

Today in Journalism.co.uk, Jemima Kiss reports that the British National Union of Journalists has published its new "code of practice" for what it calls "witness contributors."

See: "Union launches code of practice for use of citizen journalism." Kiss notes that the code is intended "for publishers of citizen journalism designed to encourage responsible and ethical use of user-generated material."

The NUJ code document itself doesn't appear to be available as a regular web page, but you can download it as a Word document. (Get the document.)

I read through this document (it's short). While it's probably useful within its oddly narrow focus, I think it's ignoring the big picture -- and the potential -- of citizen journalism...

Could Citizen Journalists Have Saved These Lives?

I couldn't help but think about citizen journalists' potential role as tipsters, after hearing a fascinating talk over at Columbia Journalism School by David Barstow, the NY Times investigative reporter, about his 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on workplace safety at McWane Industries, a iron pipe maker labeled by the paper as one of the most dangerous employers in America.

One thing that jumped out at me in the remarkable discussion on how the series came about, and the varied and impressive range of techniques Barstow used to report it, was this –- despite the company’s deliberate indifference to worker safety, Barstow said no local papers near various McWane plants had ever touched the larger story. The weak quality of the local news organizations, Barstow argued, was further hampered by a mentality that left beyond question anything that seemed to contribute to the local economy.

Is it possible citizen journalism could have made a difference in this case?

links for 2006-01-26

• Businessweek Blogspotting: Dan Gillmor and the End of Bayosphere?
  "As an author "We the Media" and a former journalist, Gillmor has been a big proponent of grassroots media. And still is, by the sounds of the letter."
  (tags: change citizen+journalism problems venues Bay+Area our+comments)
• E:M | Visiting Israel, breaking a major taboo
  This takes guts: Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan is traveling to Israel as a citizen journalist and peace activist. "As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there."
  (tags: Iran Israel Middle+East blogs citizen+journalism culture advocacy ethics events conversation)

CitJ: Is It Better to Start Small?

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a colleague about the apparent demise of Bayosphere, the ambitious Bay Area citizen journalism venture launched to great fanfare in May 2005.

I mentioned to my colleague that I think Bayosphere may have tried to start too big. It seems to me that citizen journalism generally has a better chance of thriving when it starts small -- either by focusing on specific neighborhoods or towns (not amorphous regions), or by choosing rather narrowly-defined topics, or by cultivating close relationships with a small core group of contributors.

It's more like growing a garden than building a factory...

links for 2006-01-25

• A Letter to the Bayosphere Community (Bayosphere, Dan Gillmor)
  "Citizen media was taking the world by storm, but the Bayosphere experiment didn’t turn out as I'd hoped. Many fewer citizens participated, they were less interested in collaborating, and the response was underwhelming."
  (tags: citizen+journalism analysis venues Bay+Area problems projects)

Bye Bye Bayosphere

One of the highest-profile independent venues for citizen journalism appears to be on its way out. Today, Bayosphere founder Dan Gillmor published this open letter to the Bayosphere community. While not exactly saying "it's over," the writing is on the wall...