NowPublic.com: Another New Model for Journalism

Launched about two years ago in Vancouver the site got 106 million in firstround financing over the summer from US and Canadian arms of venture capital firm Rho Ventures and two other firms It claims to be the world39s largest site for quotcitizen journalismquot with more than 130000 people in more than 140 countries contributing text images and audio and just under one million unique visitors per month While there39s highinterest news like the latest doings of Britney Spears or the Virginia Tech massacre NowPublic39s breadandbutter seems to be midtier stories that don39t get as much attention but can be captured on a cellphone camera anything from a European street demonstration to a smaller disaster in New Jersey quotThere39s little evidence that traditional news organizations are able to do this with the attention to detail and care that39s requiredquot NowPublic chairman Merrill Brown said in an exclusive interview with Jack Myers Media Business ReportVisit the New JackMyerscom Jobs Board emPowered by mediabistrocomBrown and other participants at a summit earlier this month on quotNetworked Journalismquot another term for quotcitizen journalismquot hosted by the City University of New York argued about whether traditional business requirements should even be applied to journalism Other major efforts to support coverage such as the News21 consortium New York Universitybased Assignment Zero and the recently announced Pro Publica headed by former Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger have been foundation and grantfunded BackFencecom cofounder Mark Potts lamented that he had been unable to make enough money to sustain his site a network of local contributors mostly in the Washington DC area Brown though emphatically says NowPublic intends to turn a profit There will be at least three revenue streams one is advertising on the site A second is deals with news distributors such as one concluded with The Associated Press which has already used some NowPublic material Brown told ampltiampgtJack Myers Media Business Reportampltiampgt that new deals were in the offing Finally NowPublic will charge to provide content to anyone who wants be it a PR or advertising agency looking for information on a local market or perhaps a shot of a local model or an individual who say spends 25 for a photo of his ancestral home quotIt39s networking a vast network of content creators around the worldquot Brown said quotThat39s the secret sauce we need to create to make NowPublic a viable businessquotEqually emphatically he says companies like his will not put mainstream news companies out of business suggesting they see NowPublic as an opportunity quotWe39re another component in somebody39s daily news experiencequot Brown says quotNews diets over time will include people39s favorite conventional news sites a blog or two of people they respect or are ideologically in a place they are something local and the citizen view of the news worldwidequot The site has grown through typical viral means allowing tagging and bookmarking letting people put a NowPublic button on other sites sending out conventional email PR and helping users let others know of contributions through an quotemail thisquot function and RSS feedsYet while the site has proved it can attract big news organizations and users39 attention it also suffers from the kinds of opinion or hearsay one might expect from a site with myriad nonprofessional contributors One headline read quotUS Boosts Arms For Gulf Tyranniesquot Another talked of quotBill Clinton39s Racist Postcardquot Much of the site39s quotnewsquot is pickups of mainstream reports NowPublic while not encouraging unbalanced opinion is trying to make sure people who aren39t journalists feel comfortable contributing quotWe39re not a bunch of elite reporters and you don39t have to be eitherquot chimes a promo video for the site Brown acknowledges that while they believe anyone can be a reporter not anyone quotcan be a reporter for The New York TimesquotAnd to anyone who scoffs at the idea that a site made up of amateur journalists contributing at their whim from around the world can succeed Brown points to the early days at MSNBCcom where he was founding EditorinChief quotNobody thought that MSNBC was part of the traditional news world in 1996 eitherquot he says quotThey said 39A newsroom on the Microsoft campus What39 And 39The Internet Hunhquot If the site can achieve its goal of providing material to the likes of AP and supplementing its revenues with advertising and PR it might just have a new forprofit journalism model that can sustain itself over timeTo contact Merrill Brown at NowPubliccom email merrillbrown02hotmailcomTo contact Michael Tippett email mtippettnowpubliccomDorian Benkoil a regular contributor to Jack Myers Media Business Report is a senior consultant for Teeming Media a digital media business consultancy He can be reached at DorianJackMyerscom Visit the New JackMyerscom Jobs 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