SPJ partners with Helium to champion citizen journalism

Helium, the online writers' community, has partnered with America's Society of Professional Journalists to share writing resources and platforms.

From a media release:

“SPJ has always been committed to inspiring and educating current and future journalists through professional development,” said Dave Aeikens, President of the Society of Professional Journalists. “Partnering with Helium allows us to continue this commitment by providing a vital stepping stone for our members to establish and build their digital credibility, while also opening our doors and embracing those who wish to become better citizen journalists.” . . .

“This partnership signifies a considerable elevation in the stature, awareness and quality of citizen journalism as it is perceived within the traditional journalism world,” said Mark Ranalli, CEO of Helium, Inc. “We are excited to work with such a prestigious journalistic organization and we look forward to continued growth and success as the world’s largest writing community.”

More here.

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