Minnesota’s Daily Planet Uses Citizen Journalists
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is up and running thanks to a grant from the New Voices project at the J-Lab, the University of Marylandâs Institute for Interactive Journalism. Incidentially, the New Voices’ second round of grant proposals are due by Feb. 8, 2006. They will be awarding 10 grants in the new year for up to $17,000 each for new community and citizen news projects.
Here is how the Daily Planet describes itself:
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is a community newswire and syndication service, showcasing the best work of the neighborhood and community press, as well as work by Twin Cities independent journalists and the voices of engaged citizens.
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is also conceived as an experiment in participatory journalism, built on a partnership between professional journalists and citizens. Collectively, the citizens of the Twin Cities have far more expertise and insight than can be found in any one newsroom. The premise of the TC Daily Planet is that new technologies are making it possible for these citizens to become more active and powerful participants in the news production process. One goal of the Daily Planet is to harness that community intelligence and enable citizens to share information and work together for the common good.
