There are so many different ways to slice-and-dice all the new media that it’s kind of tough to define all this new stuff!

I would call iBrattleboro perhaps a community “portal.” It is more than a blog. Someone is putting it together, deciding what to highlight, assembling menus, and things like that—more like a publication. Maybe they do not operate like a publication in terms of staff; maybe they are more hands-off.

My side project, the online magazine, is not related to blogging. But it is about amateur writing and art. We produce the publication every six weeks and it is very much thought-out and designed centrally, as opposed to people posting individually at sporadic times.

In some research I’m doing I ran across a great site for youth called TakingITGlobal, which does include blogs for members as well as a bunch of other cool features. They have people posting from all over the world and I am in awe at how they do it, with what is likely a volunteer assortment, and rather young people, too. Anyway I would call this a “portal” too, probably, not just a blog, magazine, or forum, although it includes all those things. Or is there some other name for what this is?

Another local site I didn’t mention is Penrick.com, which is more of what I think of as a traditional web forum. It’s based in Greenfield (although the founder, Penny Rickets, no longer lives in town) and is a hotbed of local political gossip and intrigue. Similarly, I think the MassLive forums fall into that category. These forums have more of a chatroom type of feel to me. They are places for anonymous attacks and name-calling. But then again, they are also part of the Internet media landscape. And, in their own way, democratic.

A lot of the “citizen journalism” efforts that are successful (and many of the most successful blog also) are headed by people with web/tech backgrounds as well as people who are journalists.

Check out Baristanet, whose principles used to work for the Daily News and NYTimes, or perhaps the folks behind the most successful blog-network BoingBoing.

Most people who blog have other jobs–as there ain’t a heck of a lot of money in blogging. Even blog networks have to hustle for funds.

What it sounds like you want to do, Heather, is form some sort of blog network…you may want to look at Global Voices On Line started by Rebecca MacKinnon, who used to be with CNN (and is now right at Harvard.) I think she runs it as a non-profit.

I also posted a link a couple of posts back that talked about iBrattleboro (in the post from On Line Journalism Review). There’s been mixed feelings about iBrattleboro and whether or not it’s been effective. They did, however, cover a big bustup at a town meeting that was significant for the people of Brattleboro. It’s future success, and that of features like Backfence.com (which is out of Maryland) has yet to be determined. They’re very new and people’s interest in them fluctuates.

As for forums, they’re a form of social media, but not really what would be considered citizen’s media. My sense is that itwould muddy things if forums were considered. How forums are moderated is different from who blogs are run. I know Craigslist hosts forums, but when Craig Newmark speaks at conferences, he rarely, if ever, refers to the forums–mostly speaks about the listings as they are what impacts msm. Usually, people–individuals, newspapers, and corporations– are interested in what is causing the biggest impact on mainstream media. Forums have been around for a long time and haven’t impacted media as much as they have affected people’s social patterns (there’s actually some hard research on this.)

What I find interesting about these “citizen journalism experiments” is the story behind each one’s evolution. At this stage of things, I wonder if there are common threads, similar questions/challenges presented, or parallel thirsts to quench in the efforts.

For example, in looking at iBrattleboro, I see that the site is up thanks to MuseArts. Looking at the staff of MuseArts, I see that there is a team of mostly web designers and programmers, but one person’s title and experience sort of stand out:

Kerry Joyce
Writer/Marketing Specialist

Another contributing member of the MuseArts team, Kerry is a technical writer and journalist. He has co-written several technical manuals for Concurrent Computer and other clients. His essays on the culture and technology have appeared on the editorial pages of the Asbury Park Press. Kerry has been a contributing journalist for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, the Middlesex News, and numerous other newspapers. He is the Associate Publisher and a co-founder of Lollipop Magazine, and has also written for web-based publications such as Rock Village. His most recent projects include writing for Tufts University and the Internet Intelligence Report.

That’s some significant journalism experience right there. Maybe it has something to do with why MuseArts built iBrattleboro? Something of a visioning guru behind the scenes? I’d love to know their story, why iBrattleboro came to be, and if it’s sustainable (and how). They take advertising and they look pretty slick for a humble little citizen journalism experiment—others I’ve seen don’t look nearly as good, regardless of what we find inside content-wise.

One reason I’m so interested in this is because I edit and publish an online magazine that I’ve managed for ten years, first in print, then on hiatus (we published a book anthology in the interim), and now online. Our contributors are all between the ages of about 12 and 28. Most of them are not very experienced writers. Part of what I do, as editor, is work to teach them some writing and editing skills. Just running the thing takes a lot of energy; it’s never been paid work, but a labor of love. Our contributors are global—one of our columnists is in Kathmandu; another is in Paris. I wouldn’t know where to begin to seek out grant funding, since our contributors group is so teeny, and our readership is a humble little market at this point. So I try to keep it in check and realize that it will probably continue to be a labor of love, if it has survived ten years that way.

Unless EBay wants to come along and offer me some cash. Yeah.