Eilinen Puffit-uutinen toi mieleeni äskettäin lukemani esseen, jossa hyvin perustellaan miksi ensinäkemältä täysin kiinnostamaton hyvin paikallinen kissanristiäistyylinen kansalaisten itsensä tuottama kansalaisjournalismi jostain kumman syystä kiinnostaa. Erityisesti journalistien, joiden on vaikea ymmärtää merkityksettömien juttujen kiinnostavuutta omaan ammatilliseen näkökulmaansa ja juttujensa merkittävyyteen juuttuneina, kannattaa lukea koko essee. Parhaat palat artikkelista the significance of YourHub.com:
I realize you could argue that YourHub.com is not the quality of the Sunday New York Times, and it rarely contains stories of international significance. There are a lot of cat-and-dog stories and one has to pan sand and gravel to find the gold nuggets. But, this obscures the currents beneath the surface of the water. What is happening is that people who have never had the opportunity to write and see their comments published can do so without kissing an editor’s behind or grovelling at the feet of a gatekeeper. It is raw, unvarnished, from the heart, out the gazoo, smoke blown up the skirt kind of stuff. And, it comes so fast that there is hardly time to read a piece before another series of articles come roaring down the pipeline.
It is also like a fast moving stream that never ceases. There is no publication deadline, no backwater. The articles and pictures are like molecules of water, bound together and flowing at a fast rate, never ceasing, never ending. Whether you are a reader or a writer it is like being in a kayak in whitewater. You either go with the flow or become exhausted, flip-over and drown.
… It is like a 24/7 New England town meeting. And, it is an alternative reality that is more connected to the lives we really live with our kids in school, our workplace, and the everyday places we inhabit. It is real, not abstract or disconnected.
(via Poynter Online: Why Some Folks Love Citizen Journalism)
