E-Media Tidbits

Does citizen journalism have to have a business model? That was one of the provocative questions asked in a panel at this week's We Media conference in New York by Dan Gillmor of Grassroots Media Inc. After all, community theaters don't have a profitable business model, yet they provide a valuable public benefit. Could citizen journalism exist in some quarters in more of a non-profit mode? (Just as in the theater community there's a mix of for- and non-profit enterprises.) Probably.

Conference participant Rory O'Connor pointed out that Wikipedia doesn't have a traditional business model, yet if the corporate market were to value it, the open-to-all encyclopedia project probably would show a worth of somewhere around half a billion dollars. (Of course, if the founders tried to monetize it, the user base might rebel and dry up, so perhaps that's unrealistic.) Ohmynews.com, the 5-year-old South Korean news site that combines professional and citizen reporting, has become profitable (though not yet wildly so).

Non-profit citizen media, and citizen-news initiatives that employ non-traditional business models, will be part of the future media landscape. Because of the nature of citizen journalism, and its potential role in strengthening democracy and communities, non-profit "we media" is certainly a good thing. I can imagine a future where citizen journalism is supported both by private companies out to make a profit as well as non-profits such as foundations.