“Reverse publishing” of online citizen journalism – it’s BRILLIANT. August 22, 2007
Posted by Jeff in competition, hyper-local, participatory journalism.trackback
Beginning today, some Chicago Tribune readers will receive the new Triblocal print edition. Following the launch of triblocal.com earlier this year, hundreds of citizens registered to post photos, stories and events from their hometowns. This content, along with enhanced coverage from Triblocal editorial staff, is used to develop two weekly print publications serving the West and Southwest suburbs.
PR Newswire via BuzzMachine.
Reader contributions are actually being published in dead-tree newspapers. How does that strike you, journalists?
That’s really is fantastic! Have you read an edition yet? What’s it like?
Seems like there trying to take a new idea, citizen journalism, backwards, print. isn’t this like typing an email, printing it out and mailing it?
Considering that a lot of the current customers of print abhor computers, think of your grandparents, this has the potential to keep print going. Besides there is something innately satisfying seeing your contributions in ink on paper that you didn’t print off yourself. It seems to me that this service gives more recongnition to the citizen journalist than a typical online posting would do. Anyone can post online, but only the good get published in print, or at least that’s what has been espoused to the masses. Well that’s my opinion. If this is what it takes to keep me up to my eyeballs in printers ink I’m all for it.
I’m really interested to see where this goes over the next few years. I agree with Rebecca that seeing your work in print still gives you and your work a legitimacy that blogging or other online publications still don’t. People get excited to be in the paper, even if it’s just for a photo or a quote, so I can see where this might help keep print running. As someone who fell in love with newspapers at young age, I’m more and more discouraged to see papers laying people off, dropping circulation etc. I hope this new notion turns out to work for them. It seems like it would help keep my beloved printing press running.
I would also assume that the good people who turn this stuff into print jazz it up somewhat and check their facts etc. . . I’m sure that while some lower quality junk does get in, if these people have any self respect they’ll be doing more than just regurgitating what’s on their web site. On a related note, this seems like a great way for traditional reporters and photojouranlists to get story ideas and keep in touch with their community on a more hyperlocal level.
I’ve heard of a few smaller towns publishing these types of newspapers. I think it works pretty well in not only informing people who don’t have or like computers, like many of the people who still read printed newspapers, and also just getting the word out that this online community exists. There’s alot of crap out there, if I see an actual magazine or newspaper, which isn’t crappy, somewhere I might be more inclined to check out the website.