Public Eye
November 14, 2005 1:01 PM

Anything Editors Can Do, You Can Do Better

By
Hillary Profita
Topics
Blog Buzz
The citizen journalist revolution is in full swing these days. And as the news industry continues to adjust itself to an audience that increasingly prefers to get its news from the Web – the Web itself continues to accomodate an audience that wants more control over how news content is presented.

Enter Newsvine. The Seattle Post Intelligencer recently offered a preview of the soon-to-be-launched news site that "gives you almost all the same stories you read on sites like MSNBC and CNN but presents them in a much more attractive package," says Newsvine CEO Mike Davidson on his blog. Along with news stories from various outlets such as the Associated Press, that package will also include a substantial amount of contribution from viewers, who can submit their own stories as well as rank the site's news stories, creating a "reader-generated editing system that boosts the most popular articles to front page prominence," according to the Intelligencer. The site appears to expand on the same idea offered by sites such as Google News, where story selection is based on an algorithm and therefore remains untouched by editors' hands. But instead of an algorithm, "Newsvine uses the 'group intelligence' of readers," says the Intelligencer. Another Newsvine novelty, notes Davidson: "Getting your own column on Newsvine isn't only free but you'll also keep advertising earnings associated with traffic to your pages."

The site launches in the next two months ... we'll be keeping our Eye on it.

Add a Comment
by wintermute1-2009 November 15, 2005 3:11 PM EST
Jane, thanks for your comment. This article just appeared in the online National Review re Pajamas: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/leigh200511150825.asp Sitting here in my pin-stripe suit....
Reply to this comment
by ronmwanga November 15, 2005 2:20 PM EST
Citizen journalism is the biggest trend in journalism in the last 20 years. The trick now is to hold them to the same high standards as newsprint as the medium evolves, while allowing the voice to come through. The thing that I love most about citizen journalism is that it is a meritocracy. The best voices win out with the most obsessive readership as opposed to the traditional Eastern seaboard elitism of he who kisses the best derriere gets promoted.
Reply to this comment
by tomb82279 November 15, 2005 1:33 AM EST
Try Digg.com and it does something pretty similar.
Reply to this comment
by janefinch November 15, 2005 1:12 AM EST
I'll be watching this with interest. Personally, when I want news, I want "news", not blogs or so-called citizen journalism. Comment to wintermute1: pajamasmedia is a badly-planned, egotistical joke. Between thinking that the likes of Charles Johnson will attract mainstream dollars, and that having Judith Miller at the big launch are good ideas, these guys obviously shouldn't give up their (in many cases) tenured jobs just yet.
Reply to this comment
by wintermute1-2009 November 14, 2005 5:59 PM EST
This will be interesting: a different, interactively populist business model than Pajamas Media, which now is appearing elitist to me by comparison.
Reply to this comment
.

Follow Public Eye

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...