#109 - Blog-Off II continues and I can use your help

Happy holidays to all! It's a glorious day in Western Kentucky, although a bit nippy out for this Florida gal. As mentioned in my last post, I'm blogging almost daily between December 1 - 12 at communitymarketingblog.com in a contest called Blog-Off II. I was actually selected last week to compete with 30 other bloggers internationally for $45,000 in prizes. I have no expectation of a win, of course, but I hope followers will be supportive and click on the link below to review my current post in the competition.

I am being judged there on the quality of my writing, my headlines, the number of page views (or people who visit my full text) and the number of comments received for each post. It's quite an honor to have been selected for this. The other competitors and colleagues have already provided me with invaluable feedback for this fledgling blogger.

I am giving this competition my all right now. With a little help from my friends, I hope to make a decent showing. On day four of the competition, I was ranked #10 out of 50 postings. Not too bad for a newbie!

http://www.communitymarketing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/12/tell-me-your-hearts-deepest-desire.html

Feel free to share the link with your friends and family members. You have my appreciation - always. I will be sharing much of what I learn through this experience in future posts following the contest.

Elizabeth

Day 98 - Truemers: Breaking news and rumours

Truemers are what some call news from citizen journalists. At the official website, the slogan is, "Don't like the news? Then change it." Keeping in step with an overall trend in information and news gathering, nowpublic.com is a place to get the inside track on people and events in the world of the web. It features interviews, new ventures, deals, tweets, who’s talking about who, the revolving door, conferences and controversies – you can find a little bit of everything there. And, if you want to, you can get in on the act.

Have you got news, something rumored that you think is true? Then, you've got a "truemor." NowPublic is a participatory news network mobilizing regular citizens into an army of reporters on a mission to cover the events that define our world. In just 12 months, the website has taken off. This Vancouver-based firm became one of the fastest growing news organizations in the world this year. It now has thousands of reporters in over 140 countries.

During Hurricane Katrina, NowPublic had more reporters in the affected area than most news organizations have on their entire staff. In 2007, TIME Magazine named NowPublic one of the "50 Coolest Websites" and in 2009, the site was nominated for an Emmy for Advanced Technology. Anyone can get published at nowpublic.com. Join the site or not, post a news item and "tag" it "Truemors" to be a featured reporter.

When you connect with NowPublic's network of writers, editors, photographers and videographers, the theory is that consumers gain more control, making news happen on their terms - worldwide.

What do you think? Is just anyone qualified to "make" news or would the real reporting be better left to trained professionals? One thing is for sure, print journalism is never going to be the same.