Journalistopia

Steve Safran at Lost Remote drew attention to a surprising discovery: Asia, particularly Japan, South Korea and China, are way ahead of the United State in terms of blog readership. Check out Safran’s post for links about the study, or just check out the whole PDF of the study.

Would any of you happen to know of any data or investigations about the state of blogging in Spanish-speaking countries?

Poynter’s Amy Gahran has a good roundup on the bloodletting (that is, the CEO leaving and the big staff cutbacks taking place) at the hyperlocal site Backfence.

Gahran wonders whether an operation such as Placeblogger has a better shot at becoming a nationwide hyperlocal operation. Is that an oxymoron? I’m of the mind that the institution best positioned to encourage community participation is the local newspaper. And really, it’s a critical way to maintain the newspaper’s standing as a vital part of the area’s identity and the reflection of the community it serves.

Nevertheless, it’s likely that an aggregator will emerge to successfully bring together hyperlocal media outlets, much in the way that Google News brings together many local sources of news into one window.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales summed up the spirit of working together online in an e-mail to folks working on the new Wikia search project. In part of his message, he wrote:

“One of the things that I believe in passionately is genuine human communities, as opposed to ‘crowdsourcing.’  What do I mean by that? I mean, people who get to know each other, over time, as real human beings, and through that process, gain a sense of trust and responsibility for each other and for the task at hand.  So for me, if we are to succeed here, this is the first place we need to focus attention…”

Wales summed up the key to creating a successful local community online. Sure, having a bunch of people hollering on a message board is a kind of community. Every message board has its regulars. But message boards become more of a cacophony, as opposed to a group of citizens working together toward a harmonious cause.
The people participating in citizen journalism efforts locally should be made to feel like a team dedicated to a clear goal, not just a bunch of faceless contributors creating page views.