Guess what’s back on my radar screen? Citizen journalism! I was in the process of reading, “The rise and prospects of hyperlocal journalism” by Jan Schaffer, director of the Institute for Interactive Journalism’s J-Lab in College Park, Maryland, at the same time I was discovering that many of the visitors to my Petaluma360 blog site, get there as the result of using a search engine rather than logging in with the site’s official URL, http://www.petaluma360.com
As I skimmed the highlights of this 47 page research study, I couldn’t help but recall several comments and remarks posted on previous blogs from Petaluma Online, the Argus-Courier, as well as the current Petaluma360 site:
10/03: As many readers of this column know, PetalumaNet, established in 1995, is a network of community volunteers who promote greater use of information and communication technology (ICT) in all sectors of Petaluma.
12/05: Think about it! Technology, as we know it today, is not of prime importance. It’s the means – a tool – to help us communicate and transmit information that will enable us to move forward and adjust to the emerging trends of the 21st Century which will require a significant paradigm shift in order to be a vital and sustainable society.
3-11-06: One of the emerging trends in our Cyber World is the art of blogging. It is no longer just for geeks, but has become a mainstreamed communication vehicle. Just enter “blog” or “blogging” in a search engine and see what appears. Using Gogle, one such search produced 537 million “blog” items in 0.15 seconds. Entering “Blogging” produced 84,900,000 entries.
3-21-06: Is Petaluma ready for an online “Public Forum?” In our Information Age world, we are able to communicate 24/7. Couldn’t a public site called, “Speak Up” along with a companion feature, “Stand Up and Be Counted,” or the “Pulse of Petaluma” be useful in making decisions that would prove to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of citizens? (FYI, these proposed names are carried over from the 20th Century.)
5-27-06: Yesterday, a three judge California appeals court ruled that “bloggers, like traditional reporters, have the right to keep their sources confidential.” To date, I haven’t found myself in this type of situation, but this decision is a victory for e-journalists as well as traditional journalists. It’s good to now that our First Amendment rights and the California Shield Law have not been altered.
12-21-06 (Frank Simpson): “One of the distinct advantages of the Blogging World is that it gives individuals a much larger voice (assuming they have something to say and the will to say it) than they would otherwise would in this world of centralized media.”
2-1-07: We’re all in this together, professional as well as amateur. I, for one, realize that “unpaid” amateurs are not a replacement for professional journalists. But, we do have wise, knowledgeable, and creative thoughts to share.
2-1-07 (Tim Hurley): “I like the term citizen journalist and the humility of amateur bloggers who recognize they are not trained journalists. But it provides a good balance to the modern trend of concentrating journalistic power in fewer hands.”
2-2-07 (Frances Rivetti): “Although it may be alarming for reporters ‘on the beat’ to come across the random postings of erratic & unedited, opinionated bloggers, it’s not entirely true that we’re all easily categorized as amateurs.”
2-3-07 (Cheryl Aronson): “People log in because they enjoy it, which is the real reason why anybody picks up any kind of literature and reads it – be it written by an amateur or a professional, online or on paper.”
2-17-07 (Editor & Publisher) “Most Americans think blogging and “citizen journalism” will prove vital to journalism in the future. They also reported that a recent poll indicated that 72% of the respondents were ‘dissatisfied’ with the quality of jourtnalism in the U.S., but 76% thought that the Internet’s overall effect on the quality of journalism had been positive.”
OK, readers – it’s your turn. Your thoughts and comments – please! But first, take a look at the report, http://www.kcnn.org/research/citizen_media_report Stay tuned.