I don't see any point in joining the snarkfest that is unfolding on some blogs in the wake of the Wall Street Journal's highly critical article about LoudounExtra.com. But it does make me want to pass on some basic points that should be absorbed by anyone thinking about hyperlocal and citizen media.
Here's another example of how the Internet has shifted power from institutions, and how that can be a good thing. While the Internet certainly has empowered whispering campaigns and hate bloggers, it also has enabled us to get to the truth behind badly reported news, if we care enough. Today I found the full Jeremiah Wright sermon from Sept. 16, 2001, in which he made the "inflammatory" statement "America's chickens have come home to roost." It turns out he was quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force.
Absolutist declarations of the form "______ is dead" are a cheap way to get links, and universally they are nonsense. Steve Boriss' declaration that "citizen journalism is dead" and "expert journalism is the future" is an example. He incorrectly cites Mark Potts' Backfence and Steve Outing's shutdown of the Enthusiast Group as examples.
All journalism has political implications, and we're seeing that play out in the citizen media space.
Kevin Anderson describes how Google/YouTube has muzzled Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas, who has been posting videos of torture and official violence in Egypt.
In my book Andrew Keen is a pompous fraud 
and I wouldn't cross the street to put him out if he were on fire, so I particularly enjoyed seeing Markos Moulitsas expose Keen's sloppy "professionalism."
Moulitsas (aka Kos) quotes Keen's book...
An editor for Ifra's magazine, Newspaper Techniques, interviewed me via email. Here's my response:
How can newspapers implement community sites?
I think the first step is to recognize the nature of community, and the constructive role played by journalism.
We typically don't do that. We typically think our job begins and ends with "covering the news," and we don't think carefully enough about what effects we have in the community.
Ifra's Citizen Media Summit in Malaysia looked like it might not happen, but the word this morning was that the class enrollment was sufficient, so we're greenlighted. If you're interested in attending, there's probably still space available. The three-day, workshop-style conference will be held July 2-4 at the Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur Hotel.
