Wikinews is a news portal created and run by volunteers. It’s citizen journalism on an international scale and is somwwhat of a model for all of us interested in the space.
One key challenge they are yet to overcome is the time taken to review stories submitted. If the delay remains of the current length, Wikinews will be more of a place of analysis and in depth pieces than what we know as traditional news stories.
This topic is of interest to us as we contemplate our approach we will take with our own LocalNews daily citizen journalism project. We’re of the conclusion that if we’re serious about this we need to have the right tools to check facts and present the stories professionally.
Hi Mark,
I’m a writer over at Wikinews, so thanks for the praise.
One question: what is the “delay” that you mention? We do have a “developing stories” page, where people can keep stories before they’re finished, but they can be moved to today’s latest news in a few seconds.
We previously (December 2004?) had a formal review process, but that has been scrapped because it was too slow. Instead, we use the wiki format as a form of continuous review.
Anyway, I’ll be interested to see what you guys come up with for your local news project. Our content will always be free, so if you want to take our stuff, go ahead.
Pingswept
Thanks for the comment. My understanding is that while we could see stories evolve, there was a delay in full ‘publication’ while further checking was done. If this is what’s been scrapped great! I’m sorry for being slow on this. I’d add that the transparency delivered in Wikinews is excellent.
Mark
Let me also chime in that Wikinews is able and willing to provide space for your local news. Wikinewsies regularly get together to create and maintain “local bureaus” or portal pages, for example http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Oceania
Amgine
We’re quickly getting our heads around the extent of what Wikinews offers and are ensuring that we work with it. The citizen journalism movement here is moving slowly so our big challenge at the present is to find contributors.