I, Reporter

links for 2007-07-31

• VentureBeat » NowPublic, citizen journalism site, expands with $10.6M
  "NowPublic, the citizen journalism site that lets individuals take pictures and post articles about news they see going on around them, has raised $10.6 million in a first round of capital."
  (tags: funding citizen+journalism business tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-26

• VBS.TV - Shows: Toxic Alberta
  Great independent documentary series on environmental, social, and economic problems plaguing energy-rich Alberta, Canada
  (tags: citizen+journalism Alberta Canada environment energy society video)

links for 2007-07-22

• Center for Citizen Media: Blog » Blog Archive » Citizen Media: A Progress Report
  "I was asked to offer a year-on-year progress report on the state of citizen journalism. To sum up: We’ve come a long way, and we still have a long way to go. offered 10 major points in my talk, as follows:"
  (tags: citizen+journalism)

links for 2007-07-21

• globeandmail.com: It's not the blogs I hate, it's their fans
  "Local blogging done right. Activist Steve Munro has his expertise: He knows transit - in Toronto - inside and out. He holds court in his comments section every day. Not all things to everyone, but a great thing for an avid niche. (http://www.stevemunro.c
  (tags: local Canada blogs tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-17

• Center for Citizen Media: Blog » Blog Archive » Citizen Media: A Progress Report
  "Needed: more experimentation in journalism and community in projects. Biz models are, at best, uncertain — and notable failures are discouraging. Trust, credibility and ethics is essential. More tools and training, including updated media literacy.
  (tags: citizen+journalism problems thought+leaders business tools media+literacy)
• Recovering Journalist: Backfence: Lessons Learned
  "As Backfence's co-founder, I thought it would be helpful to discuss some of what we learned from Backfence--and why I'm still very optimistic that a similar model can and will succeed. "
  (tags: business problems citizen+journalism hyperlocal tidbits+fodder)
• News You Can Trust | Sunlight Foundation
  "Pleased to announce a grant to NewsTrust.net -- which has developed an online news rating service to help people identify quality journalism -- or "news you can trust." Their members rate the news online, based on journalistic quality, not just populari
  (tags: credibility news money tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-15

• Putting the Hyper back in Hyper Local Journalism | Orient Lodge
  "I’ve often thought that people who try to strategize about the future of local newspapers don’t focus enough on the value of the connections with the local communities and how to monetize this in new ways with digital media."
  (tags: citizen+journalism local hyperlocal outreach tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-11

• Backfence's closing: Learning and moving on - Editors Weblog
  "Terry Heaton recently culled some important lessons from the discussion surrounding the shut-down of pioneer hyperlocal news site Backfence. Most notably, sites should build information databases before looking for revenue."
  (tags: citizen+journalism community business problems tidbits+fodder)
• BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » The local challenge
  "Hyperlocal will not, I firmly believe, happen at one site. It will work only via networks: content, commercial, social. It will work by gathering, not producing."
  (tags: business hyperlocal community citizen+journalism problems tidbits+fodder)
• American Journalism Review
  "A 10-member team at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, has been working since October on the first of a series of "microsites" covering the Post's home circulation area. The first such site, scheduled for June, will target Loudoun County,"
  (tags: hyperlocal networks citizen+journalism newspapers business tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-10

• PJNet Today: Confessions of a Crowdsourcing Journalist
  "Wired.com has begun to post the results of Jay Rosen's NewAssignment.net's Assignment Zero. In short: There was plenty of room for improvement. So, why bother? Answer: Because there is plenty of room for improvement."
  (tags: citizen+journalism crowdsourcing)
• Open-Source Journalism: It's a Lot Tougher Than You Think
  "Fundamentally, crowdsourced journalism's promise must be realized by the crowd; if a project doesn't suit the "users," it won't fly. So hearing from -- and listening to -- these users is key."
  (tags: citizen+journalism crowdsourcing problems problem+solving projects tidbits+fodder)
• May the Publishing Begin! | AssignmentZero
  "Today marks the beginning of our publishing phase at Assignment Zero."
  (tags: citizen+journalism projects publishing tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-08

• The Local Onliner » Backfence Shuts Down
  "People have been less critical of Backfence than other sites, in part because of goodwill for Mark Potts and Susan DeFife. Bloggers, journalists and even money people suspended their critical facilities, and basically became a rooting section."
  (tags: hyperlocal citizen+journalism community networks business problems journalism objectivity)
• The Local Onliner » eBay Focuses on Classifieds with U.S. Launch of Kijiji
  "Between eBay’s entry and Facebook’s entry, classifieds are really heating up, says Oodle Co-founder and VP of Marketing Faith Sedlin. As an aggregator of classifieds from many sites, Oodle stands to benefit from any new developments."
  (tags: advertising business hyperlocal media tidbits+fodder)
• The Local Onliner » New West’s Weber on Community Journalism
  "It has multiple revenue streams from Google AdSense and ads; and it also earns revenue from custom publishing, conferences and events. The site raised angel money in the high six figures to get going, and will soon be profitable."
  (tags: Rockies community journalism citizen+journalism regional west money business advertising tidbits+fodder)

links for 2007-07-04

• Jon Udell: Amazon S3, YouTube, BlipTV, and the end of walled gardens
  "YouTube is not useful for near-realtime citizen journalism. When I documented the flooding last fall in Keene, NH, my first upload was available and in circulation during the event. A long processing delay would have been intolerable."
  (tags: citizen+journalism video sharing problems problem+solving)