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CNN asked viewers to respond to: “How important is saving America’s newspapers?”
Here is my quick, obvious, response:

Today, newspapers are too big and too slow to survive.
The reporters, photographers, infographics specialists and editors with newspapers need to survive. They are experts in gathering essential news and conveying it effectively to the masses.
Most of these professional […]

Surfing for news, I took the link to YouStreet.com expecting to get a generic front page. Instead, it took me straight to where I live: Grand Rapids. No entering my zip code needed. Like a growing number of websites, YouStreet.com knows where you are.
YouStreet.com is similar to topix, plus it adds a http://maps.google.com/ map to […]

May 2007 issue about citizenjournalism
“The power of many” article
Ode magazine’s website
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I’m really liking the website, topix, which gathers national, world and “hyperlocal” news.

Topix is considered an aggregator and relies on bot-aggregating software and real-live human editors when it can. The more they can rely on human editors, the better their local pages will be. They are seeking editors.
Here’s an example of

Lake County (Illinois) Forest Preserve has created an interactive Cicada Emergence Map.
It’s a great place to see where the 17-Year Cicada (aka periodical cicada ”Magicicada septendecim” ) is emerging.
Citizen journalism working to keep the masses informed.
Photo source via wikipedia: This image is a work of a United States Department of Agriculture employee, taken or made […]

NowPublic was launched in 2005.
In their own words:
NowPublic is a participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. In twelve short months, the company has become one of the fastest growing news organizations with thousands of reporters in over 140 countries. During Hurricane Katrina, NowPublic had […]

MediaRights is hosting its annual “Media That Matters Film Festival.” MediaRights is a program of Arts Engine Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization.
The films are political and social statements.
To play them, you need the latest version of QuickTime.
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While perusing NetSquared, I discovered that J-Lab, The Institute for Interactive Journalism, is in its final days seeking submissions for its 2007 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. Submissions will be accepted from the following forms of media: Online, print, television and radio. The winner(s) will receive $10,000.
This year, J-Lab has added the Citizens […]

For any U.S. citizen posting their personal writing (illustrations, photographs, videos, audios) on the internet, it’s great to know what your freedoms are according to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Just found this great resource, First Amendment Center.
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Icycles I photographed near our home in Grand Rapids, Mich., 2005. 
Last week, the Copyright Alliance received strong support from Congress on tightening copyright laws.
If such laws were to be passed and inacted, I’m ambivalent about how I feel on this issue.
For one, my day job as a visual journalist for a daily newspaper necessitates strict […]