The Washington Times embraces citizen journalism

You know it's big when the conservatives adapt.

Starting today, the Washington Times will carry a full page of citizen journalism every day, in its (metro) "A" section, in order to offer "a natural complement" to professional journalism.

In a report headlined "Times embraces 'citizen journalism'" (note the intriguing quotation marks), Jennifer Harper announces the newspaper's commitment to "one full print page per day of news stories reported and written by average citizens in local communities."

More here.

Also see: Jai Ho to America's newspaper of record
And: Broadcast stations enlist college students as citizen reporters
And: 3G technology promises more power to citizen journalists

Big media smells the salts, embraces citizen journalism

Jeff Bercovici sums it all up for business magazine Condé Nast Portfolio:

In the past week, Hearst Newspapers, The New York Times Co. and the Washington Times have all announced plans to harvest the reporting of non-professional volunteers. Hearst is partnering with Helium, an online freelance-writers' network; the New York Times is launching a string of local news sites with contributions from area residents; and the Washington Times will tap members of the military to cover the bases where they live.

There's a healthy dose of irony here, especially when it comes to Hearst, which also said last week that it plans to start charging for much of the content on its newspapers' websites. In essence, Hearst is saying to readers: Please start paying us for our content, and, while you're add it, please supply the content.

Also see: Jai Ho to America's newspaper of record

And: Broadcast stations enlist college students as citizen reporters

And: 3G technology promises more power to citizen journalists