Citizen journalism site how-to
Hartsville Today — a “citizen journalism” project aimed at local news, and put together by the Hartsville Messenger newspaper, with funding from the Knight Foundation and help from Doug Fisher of the University of South Carolina journalism school — has published a report on its first year of existence, or what Fisher calls a “cookbook” on his blog. There’s a PDF version of the report here, and Doug writes about it here.
The Hartsville Today site (which is here) has the slogan “Your news is our news,” and consists of both stories filed from Messenger staff and content from readers. There are submissions about upcoming local events, reviews of local events, blog-style entries about a retired reader’s morning walk, and so on. There are also image galleries, discussion forums, and some helpful hints on writing and submitting things. Here’s an excerpt from the executive summary:
“The most important thing is to think like your users and readers, not like the publisher. They are likely use a site much differently than the typical journalist. Nothing substitutes for detailed planning and discussions in your community ahead of time – and then be prepared to make changes when you find out they are using it differently than you thought they might. Like water, people will find their own level. Remember, they are not journalists and probably don’t want to Hartsville Today 2 be, but they may have great interest in letting the world know about things you simply don’t have time or staff to cover.”
There is plenty of great advice in the report, including this:
“Even once you’ve built it, they may not come. Recruiting is vital and never ending. Everyone in your newsroom should encourage people to visit, become members and post items. This may be difficult at first given the competitive nature of many journalists, but in any community there is far more than can get in the paper. At times, you will even learn of stories worthy of assigning staff to. Speak to civic and community groups, Scout troops, neighborhood groups and churches. But don’t stop there; basic shoe leather is still an effective recruiting tool. If you confine yourself to the “known suspects,” you are likely to have a site that reflects the local establishment.”
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