If you can’t afford reporters, use bloggers?
13 October, 2009
Traditional UK newspaper the Guardian will launch “Guardian Local” a digital local news service under the Guardian brand. This will be done by hiring local bloggers to create content, meaning text, photographs, audio and video. The local news service will start in 3 medium-sized UK cities early 2010, with the bloggers reporting on meetings and events within their area.
Experimental
Emily Bell, director of digital development at Guardian News & Media, said, “Guardian Local is our small-scale experimental approach to local newsgathering.” Sarah Hartley of Guardian Local; “This experimental project reflects both the shifting nature of journalism and the reality on the ground.”
Grass roots
I really wonder if this is going to work out. We have seen several “grass roots journalism” initiatives over the past few years, but to me, it looks like journalists have spent more time discussing the phenomenon than grass roots journalists have spent actually writing articles.
Motivation
And if the Guardian can get people in gear, the most motivated contributors will be those that have a vested interest in the subject they’ll be writing about, which will probably lead to issues around quality assurance and neutrality. I’m very interested to see what solutions the Guardian has come up with to manage these issues…
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