Many media outlets and news organizations have recently embraced crowd sourcing and citizen journalism as an effective method of covering the news. RIA Novosti, Russia's state-run news and information agency, recently announced that it would follow the trend.

The agency intends to develop a multimedia project entitled, "You're a Reporter," giving the public a chance to submit their own videos and images to be featured in the news. In the press release, the effort is described as "a multimedia platform, which will collect and post pictures and videos made by everyday Internet users, who have witnessed a remarkable event." Prior to posting, all submissions will be double checked for accuracy by agency workers.

RIA Novosti has high hopes fro the new project. One of its' primary desires is to develop and nurture a permanent group of contributors. Those interested in participating will be able to attend workshops designed to train citizens on the most effective ways to capture and report on what's going on around them.

The "You're a Reporter," project is another step towards RIA Novosti's efforts to develop their Internet outreach. The press release states that a half year ago the agency created a new branch dedicated to following blogs and social networks for any news that might be of interest to them. Critics, however, might suspect that the agency's relationship with the Russian government might raise concerns of censorship.

The term 'journalism' is a large umbrella covering the multitude of media and topics that come under its shelter. Indeed, branding 'journalists' as but a single breed of professional would be to ignore the differences between what a broadcaster, to say a newspaper columnist, does on a daily basis.

But now it seems that in light of the financial crisis that spurred the media crisis, adaptation has been dubbed the key to survival - something that has seen different branches of the media growing ever closer and at some points intertwine. Despite the fact that journalists may be fighting one battle - that being making the news still marketable - in doing so, they might have injured those on their own team.

On Sunday, the Guardian's Media Commentator, Peter Preston, highlighted that time might be running out for news channels such as the BBC's News 24: something he attributes to the fact that Internet can now report the same information just as effectively, which is all the more accessible thanks to faster video streaming. He even goes as far to suggest; "maybe the whole live loopline news business is doomed."

With the much-anticipated U.S. launch of the iPad coming this Saturday, media executives everywhere are waiting with bated breath for the verdict: Will the iPad save news media? No one's sure yet, but tech columnists across the web who managed to get their hands on advance releases of Apple's tablet computer gave generally gushing reviews of the innovative product, ensuring that consumers will be lining up on Saturday to snap up the small stock of iPads delivered to Apple stores and Best Buy.

At the time of its release on Saturday, users will be able to access over 1,000 apps made specifically for the iPad, with 60,000 books in Apple's e-book store. Among those apps are options from numerous newspapers and magazines, all selling their products with a range of payment plans.

As news broadcasters increasingly become news publishers, the latter are aiming to fight back and regain some of their market share by adding daily newscasts to their websites. The New York Times launched their video cast, called TimesCast, on Monday, and as Editor and Publisher reports, Boston Globe's website, Boston.com, introduced GlobeToday on Wednesday.

TimesCast has a behind-the-scenes format, covering the news from the newsroom. The six minute long video begins in the front page planning meeting, where various section editors, from the Washington bureau to foreign news desks, discuss the top news of the day. The rest of the video follows Times journalists through their reporting routines.

Though the Times is offering an innovative look into the newsroom, its attempt at transparency may have fallen short because, just like with C-SPAN, few people are interested in watching newsmakers in the process of making the news.