Craig and Citizen Journalism

Craig Newmark (of craigslist) is featured in this article on the impact his list is having on the bottom line of newspapers, and his efforts to nurture various Citizen Journalists ventures.

I am somewhat skeptical that a bunch of amateurs can replace professional writers: investigative writing requires time, money, contacts, and persistence. Blogging is starting to challenge the dominance of the op-ed pages. Other parts of a newspaper will be harder to replace. Just compare wikinews to say the NYTimes, the LATimes, the Washington Post, or the SF Chronicle. Writing a high-quality and engaging article is hard, and it takes some journalists years before they really hone their craft. Having software tools and algorithms in place will cut down the noise and may keep off the spammers, but algorithms once understood can be gamed.

The newspapers are hurting, whatever emerges, I think ordinary citizens will play a larger role. That in itself is a good thing. The hybrid model that we are seeing -- citizen journalists along with traditional media -- can hopefully be sustained. I remain hopeful that the newspapers will be able to adjust to the economic pressures, and continue to produce high-quality journalism.

Citizen Journalism is part of the general trend towards decentralization. In the area of Trade and Commerce, scale still matters. In small towns across the US, small businesses and thriving downtowns, are being overwhelmed by large centralized big-box retailers. A small portion of our collective purchase power can go a long way towards slowing down this trend.