J-Lab, the institute for interactive media, has produced a fascinating report on citizen media:
Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News
Here are their key takeaways:
* Citizen media is emerging as a form of bridge media, linking traditional media with forms of civic participation.
* No one size fits all; there are many models.
* Instead of being comprehensive sources of news, sites are forming as fusions of news and schmooze.
* Most citizen sites don’t use traditional metrics - unique visitors, page views or revenues - to measure their success.
* Success is often defined as impact on their community.
* Half of our respondents said their sites don’t need to make money to continue.
* Yet there are new kinds of media companies starting to emerge.
* There is a high degree of optimism that citizen news sites are here to stay.
* Finding ways to attract more contributors and some operating support are major challenges.'
The entire report is worth reading.
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