Two Cents on Citizen Journalism

I'm pretty excited about this blog.  

I admit I've created - and abandoned - several blogs in the past.  That's probably due to a number of factors: my extreme laziness; an inability to stick with anything even remotely demanding for which I'm not getting paid or being graded; a perfectionist's reluctance to put anything into the world that isn't, well, perfect; dread of public sharing that is too private and/or too confessional and a fear that anything I write might end up to be just that; and, perhaps most important, a growing ambivalence toward citizen journalism. 

I get how it’s positive - democratizing the news, giving a voice to the disenfranchised, chipping away at the monopolies conglomerates have on disseminating information, blah, blah. 

But lately I’ve been feeling more impatience and downright disdain for any and all of it.  People who may or may not have some talents or smarts get in front of a keyboard/camera/microphone and what comes out is mediocre at best, because there’s rarely an editor to guide and critique.  For those who do have the raw talent, it can turn into an exercise in narcissism.  

Usually, the truly brainless are the most entertaining - their videos often go viral on YouTube - while those who deserve recognition never get it.

But, now that I’ve spent this post complaining about citizen journalism ... I hope people sift through all the crap to find us!  Personally, I think our blog is going to be fantastic.  This really is a genius idea.  And we are so smart and funny!  (See?  This is what I mean :))