I have been quoted

http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2008/02/state-of-citizen-journalism-in-india.html

Teaching Villagers to be Citizen Journalists
Sweta Singh, who comes from the state of Bihar, one of the poorest places in India (I come from the same state) but now works in New Delhi has started on a noble mission of training citizen journalism to women panchayat (local village council) leaders in Bihar. The ‘MYOWN’ initiative is an experiment and Sweta is funding the initiative herself.

Citizen Journalism in 2007: A Recap

by RachelSterne on January 7, 2008 - 7:15pm.

2008 is upon us—what better time for a progress report on citizen journalism? Over the past twelve months, investors shelled out, mainstream media perked up and thousands mobilized to share their news with the world. In short, 2007 marked citizen journalism’s coming out. (And—in the interest of disclosure—I launched international platform GroundReport.com.)

So—a quick look back. Here are a few things we learned about citizen journalism in 2007:

1. It has value

The hefty NowPublic, with aims of becoming a ‘crowd-powered’ wire service, landed $10.6 million in investment despite a single dollar of revenue. MSNBC.com acquired advertising-supported startup Newsvine for an undisclosed sum. And Associated Content, though more a portal for ‘evergreen’ lifestyle content than news, brought in $10 million. Worth noting that both Newsvine and Associated Content share revenues with contributors, a content model explored across the landscape.

2. It plays nicely with mainstream

Every major outlet now has its own avenue for accepting public news submissions, from I-Report (CNN) to uReport (FOX). And big media is not afraid of the independents. Beyond MSNBC.com’s purchase of Newsvine, NowPublic struck a content deal with Associated Press, though terms remain unknown.

3. It changes politics

The Iowa primary upsets weren’t a shock to everyone. While mainstream media sticks to a horserace mentality for the 2008 presidential elections, participatory media empowers outliers by giving equal attention to their campaigns. Independent outlets cropped up all over in 2007, from Huffington Post / Jay Rosen (NewAssignment.Net) collaboration Off The Bus (led by Amanda Michel and Neil Nagraj), to DoubleSpeak.com (Matt and Peter Slutsky) and noontime pundits Political Lunch (Robert Willis and Will Coghlan). Brian Williams relinquished the spotlight to YouTube interviewers at the debates. And candidates Ron Paul and Mike Gravel broadcast live on Mogulus and Justin.TV when the networks snub them. Everywhere you look, people are pulling back the curtains on the political machine.

4. It’s the Anti-Snark

Time was, irreverent media had to be mean. Nick Denton’s media blog Gawker launched in 2002, epitomizing “snark,” something at the intersection of cynicism, sarcasm and wit. But recently editors Choire Sicha and Emily Gould quit their ‘soul-killing’ posts, and the winds may be changing. Citizen journalism heralds a different, more earnest kind of news from those who aren’t in the club. Check community comments on most citizen journalism platforms and you will find a supportive, constructive tone. Some ventures even believe they can change the world—human rights advocates WITNESS launched The Hub to help nonprofits share their news, YouTube has its Nonprofit Program, and OLPC, UNICEF and Google are partnering to help children report on their lives through a project called Our Stories.

5. It goes far beyond America

Surprise: the epicenter of citizen journalism is not the US. Nor is it Canada, the UK or anywhere in the Western world. Some of citizen journalism’s most enthusiastic proponents reside in the India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where discussing politics is a national pastime and millions are web-savvy and fluent in English, the web’s dominant language. Plus the buying power of the dollar on the Subcontinent amplifies the draw of revenue share—an extra $10 USD a month has much longer legs in New Delhi than in New York. More evidence? See the growing GroundReport roll, confirmation by other platform creators, MeriNews (headed by former leaders in traditional Indian media), and citizen journalism competition and TV series by CNN-IBN.

And of course, beyond India, citizen journalism is crucial when a country like Pakistan or Burma puts its media on lockdown.

All for now. Look forward to hearing your objections and additions. Next up: predictions for where citizen journalism is headed in 2008.

That post coming soon.