Citizen Journalism Benefits, Tools and Future

This will be the start of what I hope is a new approach to this blog. For too long its been a personal (read ego) blog. I collected links that were only relevant to myself and occasionally I used it as a printing press – but generally I imagine the utility for other people was slim-to-none.

So I’ve begun re-thinking this blog – and you are more than welcome to help.
First, the new design. Less clutter. If you have feedback, let’s hear it.

The rest of this post: More links and quick hits.

1. An interview with a citizen journalist about her experience covering a murder trial for a year.
Wether or not you think she did a good job covering the trial, reading the interview you realize that she, as a Canadian citizen, was engaged in the trial process in a way that was beneficial to herself. I think we forget that citizen journalism isn’t just about creating content – it’s about connecting citizens to the news process.

"I walked away knowing that defusing the power that I thought my past
had over me, shame, regret, embarrassment etc. is actually my greatest
asset for me when I speak from experience and I can use that to fight
for change and to get my voice listened to for the safety and welfare
of others."

2. A way journalists can use Twitter or other mirco-blogging platforms to improve their interviews or other reporting acts. I’m under the impression that the editor of Wired is gung-ho about this method and is going to start evangelizing Wired writers to adopt it. If they are able to get the newsroom doing that – it could be a new method of covering technology.

2. I received an email from Newsvine (which deserves its own post). In it they mentioned future goals: "Newsvine Assignment Desk."
  hmmmm…. An Assignment Desk. If they make it less clunky than Assignment Zero’s Assignment Desk, they may be onto something.