How to gradually implement citizen journalism in your newspaper

Steve Outing at Poynter has written an informative piece for editors and publishers confused about the citizen journalism buzz and how to go about using it for the benefit of their publications. Noting that many are skeptical about the emerging phenomenon, Outing eases fears with an explanation of what he calls "The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism." Beginning with the basics, Outing explains that many papers are initially hesitant to even open up their columns to reader comments, "an imperative characteristic of citizen journalism." This being the first step to getting accustomed to having non-professional material published on their pages, editors should slowly work towards recruiting readers to add content to professional columnists' content. Readers with certain specialties or experiences will add value to a reporter's article of a similar topic. A few steps down the line, editors should open up their newsrooms to their public, making their news process transparent, regaining trust among readers. Eventually a purely citizen journalism site should be launched, the next logical step being a mixed professional/citizen journalism publication, be it online or print. An example of this model would be Korea's OhmyNews. Finally, Outing invokes the "wiki" model the Los Angeles Times is about to test (see previous posting) with its editorial page. The Wiki model allows anyone to post an article online which anyone else can edit, theoretically ending in an unbiased and well-informed "collective intelligence" article. Although Outing advocates this model, he also warns that, "Going this far with citizen journalism will take some guts -- and a change in thinking. It means moving far down the continuum of journalist-reader interaction, allowing an unprecedented loss of control of the editorial product."

Source: Poynter