An article on citizen journalism from the Christian Scientist Monitor (first seen in a CanadianJournalist.ca post by Deborah Jones).

An excerpt:

Back in the old days - pre-2005 - community activist Amy Gahran had three ways to reach readers of the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo.: She could persuade a reporter to quote her, write a letter to the editor, or buy an ad.
 
Now, the Internet has provided a fourth option, and Ms. Gahran wants to take advantage of it. She plans to recruit a "citizen journalism reporting team" to cover a controversial housing development - and post its work on the Daily Camera's website.

(Note: I would suspect it would go in MyTown; the community news section for Boulder.)

Her unpaid volunteers won't have reporting experience, but she's not worried. "The skills involved in creating journalism are underappreciated, but they aren't particularly rocket science," says Gahran, a freelance writer.

Ordinarily, a planned infiltration like this one would send editors rushing to barricade the door. But the Daily Camera's online chief says he welcomes Gahran's efforts, and he has plenty of company. In several communities across the United States, newspapers are encouraging amateur writers to fill their websites with content ranging from diatribes to serious reporting. On Friday, the venerable Los Angeles Times joined the parade, allowing Web denizens to rewrite its daily editorials en masse.

This development raises profound questions about the news biz and its evolution - from what role a newspaper should play in its community (opinion leader versus discussion facilitator) to what "professional" standards should apply to nonprofessionals. Will editors accustomed to tight control ever adjust to the free-wheeling world of the Internet? Will online users view tradition-bound newspapers as anything but clueless has-beens? And finally, will the online world ultimately boost the industry's sagging fortunes?

I'll await and see the outcome of Ms. Gahran's reporting efforts, but right now, MyTown for Boulder appears to be the sort of citizen "journalism" site that makes my skin crawl.

There's a promo for the "54 second film festival" on the Community Access Television, the meeting location change for the Boulder Optimist Club and how a Swiss film production company will be gathering aerial footage around Boulder.

Those used to be called public service announcements.

They were differentiated from journalism.