Seven Days: DIY Journalism

Well, I couldn't say it any clearer myself, so I will just post what the authors reiterate about citizen journalism in a simple "How-to"Seven Days: DIY Journalism: "Start It Up Want to make your own successful citizen media site? iBrattleboro co-founder Chris Grotke has some advice: - Think long-term. Grotke and co-founder Lise LePage started their site with a 10-year plan. - Stay local. Listen to what people are talking about in town, and design the sections of your site to reflect that. 'You can imitate a little,' says Grotke, 'but think about what your neighbors need.' - It only takes about $10 a month to host a website like iBrattleboro, but it takes a lot of time. Grotke and LePage promoted the site extensively by putting up fliers and, more importantly, by going to public meetings and talking about the site with community leaders and neighbors. They also monitor it constantly throughout the day. 'We either have to be doing it, or have someone else doing it,' Grotke says. - Team up with local web developers and designers if possible. - Model good behavior. You have to post news, too. Try writing in different styles to give people a sense of their options. 'We've had news submitted in the form of haiku,' notes Grotke. - It's not all fun and games -- people may submit libelous or obscene posts and you have to figure out how to deal with that. It helps to have an understanding of media and democracy and censorship issues. - If you're looking to promote democracy and access to media, your site might work. If you're just trying to make money off it, it won't. Grotke speaks from experience when he says, 'This is not a get-rich-quick scheme.' "