Gene Siskel's old employer is jumping on the citizen journalism bandwagon. The Chicago Tribune has launched a new site called TribLocal which allows residents in nine different surburban areas of the city to contribute stories, photographs, event announcements and anything else that fits the "family-friendly" web format.
Four professional Trib journalists have been assigned the thankless task of generating their own content as well as deciding which material generated by the public deserves the most prominence on the site. Also, the paper is planning to take the best contributions and publish them once a week in a tabloid-style insert that will be stuffed inside the broadsheet.
This experiment, such as it is, looks like a disaster in the making. According to TribLocal's FAQ, most of the content will be created and submitted by the public who are also expected to monitor most of the material. Essentially, it's a localized Wikipedia site with a touch of Craigslist. You have to register for free in order to participate.
Without the same training that professional journalists receive in certified colleges and universities, these "citizen journalists" will be walking into a minefield of ethical dilemmas. Are they aware of terms like "on the record", "off the record" and "background"? Do they know the difference between offering a commentary and presenting a straight news item? Do they know that three makes a trend? Are they familiar with "sources"? Will there be any serious, groundbreaking journalism on this site or will the showcased stories collectively bore readers?
It appears The Trib is outsourcing the announcements and classified sections of their newspaper to a public-at-large they don't have to pay. It's a move that smacks of desperation.
The move comes at a time when the financial outlook for newspapers has never been darker. With circulation and ad revenue flowing to the Internet, papers are scrambling.
The popularity of sites like MySpace.com has convinced many publishers there is value in letting readers create "content." And local papers are trying to re-engage readers with "hyperlocal" coverage, the minutiae of local community life that the rest of the media ignore.
"This started with the question of how can we make the paper more relevant to readers who continue to live further and further away from the center city," Biedron said.
Nine urbanized areas of the city, in the west and south, are the initial target areas of this initiative. As the site progresses, The Trib plans to expand beyond those regions.
Whether this ill-conceived project will succeed or crash and burn is anybody's guess.
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