A model for “citizen journalism” that I like tightly blends the work of professional journalism with submissions of content from members of the community — rather than segregating citizen submissions to a separate, “ghetto-ized” area. This appears to be the model of a new initiative, introduced earlier this month, in Massachusetts.
Called “Wicked Local,” the venture is part of Enterprise NewsMedia<, a regional local media company serving the area south of Boston. Enterprise publishes the Patriot Ledger and 23 community newspapers.
VP for interactive media Bob Kempf explains the “hyper-local Web network” this way: “What I think distinguishes ours from some of the other citJ initiatives sponsored by traditional media companies is our tight integration of citizen content with professionally produced journalism.”
The first community served by Wicked Local is Plymouth. You’ll notice that most of the content on that site is from professional reporters, but interspersed are some citizen contributions (text and photos). As long as the citizen content is labeled so that readers understand the source, I think this is great.
Says Kempf: “As publishers of community newspapers, we are in an ideal position to host and lead the local conversation and information exchange in the communities where we publish.”
It seems clear to me that this melding of professional and amateur reporting is the way things are (and should be) heading for community journalism. The problem I have with some of the “ghetto-ized” citJ sites out there is that the content is mostly dull; the intent may be noble (give citizens a voice in local media), but the sites are not a joy to behold. But by adding the citizen element and “news as a conversation” to the professional-journalism model, well, then you have something truly worthwhile and engaging.
