We Media - Audiences as partners in the news

For the past few months, I've been working with new media writers/consultants Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis to produce a comprehensive report for New Directions for News on the subject of participatory journalism.

Today, the foreword, introduction and first four chapters of the seven-chapter report were posted.

It's called "We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information."

San Jose Mercury News business columnist and blogger Dan Gillmor writes in the foreword:

I've been lucky enough to be an early participant in participatory journalism, having been urged almost four years ago by one of the weblog software pioneers to start my own blog. Writing about technology in Silicon Valley, I used the blog to generate even more feedback from my audience.

That audience, never shy to let me know when I get something wrong, made me realize something: My readers know more than I do. This has become almost a mantra in my work. It is by definition the reality for every journalist, no matter what his or her beat. And it ?s a great opportunity, not a threat, because when we ask our readers for their help and knowledge, they are willing to share it -- and we can all benefit. If modern American journalism has been a lecture, it ?s evolving into something that incorporates a conversation and seminar.

I believe it's an important report, one that captures many of the exciting developments occurring in the field of new media today. Weblogs, of course, play a prominent role. (The chapters appear in PDF form.)

I'll post a followup announcement when the entire report is completed later this month.

The New Directions site has launched a new blog, but I'm not crazy about the format -- you're required to email your comments -- so feel free to post your thoughts right here.

Later: One reason that I dislike PDF documents -- and so many users hate them -- is that while they're terrific when they work, they often don't open like they're supposed to. Kathy at Kansas University writes to say: "When I try to open the PDF, Acrobat tells me there was a 'font with a bad CMap.' " She has Acrobat 4.0 and has been unable to open any of the docs.

I'll relay this news to the folks at NDN and see if they can put up an HTML version later this month.