US: CBS and Fox jump on citizen journalism trend

Posted by Lindsay Berrigan on March 22, 2007 at 10:08 AM

On Monday March 19, CBS and Fox News enlisted company Neighborhood America to create social networking technology, allowing the two networks to venture into the world of citizen journalism.

Neighborhood America will help Fox and CBS allow viewers to send in their own news stories and videos. At the Fox website, viewers are now able to submit their own news reports to be incorporated directly into Fox News programs. For CBS, Neighborhood America has created CBS Springboard, allowing users to send in videos on specific topics.

Newspapers should keep an eye on this trend, as it can help keep readers engaged, especially on newspaper websites. As Rachel Happe, IDC’s research manager for the digital business economy, said, “A lot of old-line media companies, particularly news companies, are struggling to keep an audience. It makes sense for them to move to a collaborative news environment, to make people feel they’re invested in the news at some level.”