Pro-am journalism takes off
Check out Assignment Zero, the latest in Jay Rosen’s push to figure out what it is professional journalists and amateurs (you know, citizens) can create together.
It is important to understand how collaboration can/will work now because the “why” question has already been answered:
A professional newsroom can’t easily do reporting in the many-to-many style. It’s a closed system. Because only the employees operate in it, there can be reliable controls. That’s the strength of the system. The weakness is the newsroom only knows what its own people know or dig up. Which wasn’t much of a weakness before the internet made it possible for the people formerly known as the audience to realize some of their informational strengths.
Citizens helping journalists by being journalists themselves is, I think, an important step along the path toward journalism realizing its primary purpose: giving citizens the information they need to be free and self-governing. In other words, Assignment Zero is unlikely to spend time or effort on the corpses or scalps of celebrities.
What is an Expert?
Cool, Tim. I didn’t realize you were writing a new blog. I’m glad to see it and will link it later today. And thanks for this link.
Well, I wasn’t until … now. I appreciate the link, but I appreciate your visits even more!