Citizen Journalism

Our Leonard (I say "our" as he was one of the first people I met through Atlanta Media Bloggers. Speaking of AMB, we need to regroup, eh gang? Kinda let the group slide into Jello. I'll talk to Sherry about that at PodCamp Atlanta, where, BTW, I'll be rapping for two sessions on Saturday March 17: one at 11:30am about Old Media vs. New Media, and then again at 1:30pm on a video blogging panel. So mark your calendars for PodCamp Atlanta, March 16-18 at Emory. Come yap with me! SG - flight attendant on the social media star fleet.)

Anyways, back to the point here about Leonard Witt, he's blogging like a man on fire about citizen journalism, using the AJC time and time again as an example of what happens when you miss the boat and simply "don't get it." Get on over to his PJNet and learn something (all you'll get here is rant and attitude of course), particularly about this Open Source radio. I'm headed there now.

Journalists want to get paid to write about the community and the world they live in. But God forbid they have to sit down at the same table with it. Shame. It's a great raucous party really. They're the ones missing all the fun.

Reminds me of how so very often I'm asked if I get paid to blog. Or why would I bother if I don't. And I have to say that I get paid just fine, in full and often. It's not just necessarily with cold hard cash; fond as I am of that, I also love my fringe bennies. And sometimes, they turn out to be more valuable. Time will tell. Besides, this dude says he'd hire me to blog!

Keep hope alive.

Open Letter To AJC from PJNet

Leonard Witt at PJNet has a strong, open letter for the AJC. Like they'll ever see it on a blog, Leonard. Get real. They're too busy sprinkling fairy dust, crafting the fantasy that they themselves, again, are the only source of news and information in this state, to deign to read a blog.

Here's an excerpt from the open letter. Full post here.

In the future, as advertising and news diverge, the audiences will have to pay more of the costs. Giving them great journalism will not be enough--that's a sad reality. However, if all of Picard's stakeholders -- advertisers, investors, journalists, consumers and society in general -- feel they have ownership in the paper, and are part of its decision making process, and if the paper and the community are indistinguishable, one adding to the strength of the other, then journalism, the AJC and all of Georgia will profit.

Getting there will require innovative thinking and trust in the power of collective thought, but the lesson of Linus Torvalds says that it can happen -- and as Microsoft learned -- if you stay too closed and don't trust your audience--then that audience will find someone else who will trust it and who understands the worth of community involvement and collective thought. Still it is not too late. Ask us all how we can help preserve a great news organization and improve journalism in this digital age, ask us all how we might get involved. You might be surprised at the answers we can collectively produce.

This post put together by R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion: "I think I thought I saw you try. That was just a dream."