Citizen journalism

The community submitted, edited and free for users Wikipedia has been around for a few years now. Google ranks Wikipedia as the fifth most trafficked site on the web. The Wiki brand recently leaped into another international controversy with WikiLeaks' publication of secret U.S. military Afghan war documents.

And now, the next Wiki on the scene is WikiFactCheck, a wiki site created by journalist Andrew Lih.  Wikis are open-content sites, which allow...Go to full story

While it's openly an advocacy and whistleblower safe haven, WikiLeaks has also caused a stir by crossing into gray journalistic territory. 

But, with WikiLeaks' July 25 publication of its Afghan war diary - a collection of secret U.S. military documents from the war in Afghanistan--WikiLeaks provided three mainstream news organizations with an advance review.  By doing so, the news organizations were first to publish about the data dump, and WikiLeaks...Go to full story

By now, the video of U.S. Rep Bob Etheridge (D-NC) grabbing a young videographer has gone viral on the Internet.

Etheridge has apologized, but news sites and blogs are abuzz with the ethics of the media’s reporting of the video. In the video, Etheridge is walking toward the cameras, is stopped by the two young videographers and asked if he supports the Obama agenda.  Etheridge asks them who they are, and the only identification they give is that...Go to full story

Michigan State Senator Bruce Patterson (R-Wayne County) has introduced a bill that would license journalists in the state of Michigan.

The bill was introduced May 11 and has been referred to committee. While journalists and ethicists have spoken out against the bill, news organizations report that Patterson doesn't expect the bill to go anywhere - he just wanted to start a discussion about the licensing of journalists.

Jack...Go to full story

To mark Independence Day, all Journal Register newspapers will try out the Benjamin Franklin Project on July 4.  The Journal Register Company has 19 daily newspapers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio, New Jersey and New York.

The “digital first, print last” directive, has the newspapers using "only free tools found on the Internet” to produce the newspaper in print and online.  It also is alleged...Go to full story

Highlighting the limited scope of an amended Free Flow of Information Act--a proposed federal ‘shield law’ to protect journalists from being made to reveal confidential sources--two travel bloggers were visited by representatives of the Transportation Security Administration last week.

Wired reported, the writers (one a professional travel columnist, and the other a photographer) were served civil subpoenas demanding information on an anonymous source...Go to full story

If Paul Carr meant to start a debate, he succeeded. Over the weekend, Carr, who writes for Techcrunch, penned a criticism of citizen journalists at the Fort Hood shootings that picked up quite a bit of traction online.

Aside from his many Twitter mentions, other social media critics responded to his critique and while most felt his post didn't have the substance to sustain a convincing argument, Megan Garber writing at the Columbia Journalism Review was more...Go to full story

Most film audiences are familiar with the phrase, "Based on a true story," or the even looser attribution, "Based on true events." They understand that what they see on screen is a fictionalized version of people, places, and events that, in some form, really exist. But they're also savvy enough to understand that reality has been rewritten and rearranged to make it more interesting.

Denver Post theater critic John Moore raises questions about...Go to full story

With the rise of 24-hour cable TV came the need for more and more content. But without the funds to pay more and more staff, broadcasters have increasingly turned to pundits to fill their air time. Sometimes those pundits are experts with specialized knowledge; often they are people who are able to speak on camera and will take a strong position to promote an agenda, political or otherwise. In the October issue of The Atlantic magazine, staff writer Mark Bowden looks at the...Go to full story

The social media platform, Twitter, first gained legitimacy as a valuable news tool last April, when it helped connect protesters in Moldova and then, more remarkably, during and after Iran's election this past June. But a college class on Twitter reporting?

According to Medill Reports, beginning this fall students at DePaul University in Chicago were able to enroll in "Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets," a journalism course created and led...Go to full story