I came to Ecuador to give workshops on the philosophy of public journalism knowing that in the United States it has morphed into the publics journalism. I was prepared to wow the Ecuadorian journalists with all the new digital tools that are changing everything in the high-tech countries. Yes, the participants loved making their own [...]
Citizen journalism is clearly working in a number of arenas: in the blogging community, citizens are contributing their voices to journalism sites, to their own conversations, to specific issues; during events, citizens are adding their own eyewitness accounts and photographs, developing responses, sharing stories; in local communities citizens are organizing and advocating, responding to and [...]
In Nepal and other countries in southeast Asia, ancient pipal trees serve as gathering places for travelers and villagers. People put down their loads, sit on ancient stone benches surrounding the broad trees, and share stories from village to village — an ancient news distribution system.
No institutions mediate the stories; they may evolve and [...]
The Online News Association reported yesterday that The Columbus Dispatch and Dispatch.com have started a project that will combine the creative writing energy of staff journalists with that of local writers.
Called Create-a-Classic, the experiment initially involves four Dispatch editorial staff who have each written the first chapter of a novel. The paper has solicited unpublished [...]
As I give my public and citizen journalism workshops at La Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador it has dawned on me that the people in low paying countries might have some great opportunities via the Internet. The infrastructure makes it difficult to get a universal audience within the country, but if they can [...]
As you might know, the Harnisch Foundation under the direction of Ruth Ann Harnisch gave us a substantial gift to start the Center for for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University. We are up and running. Keep abreast of what is happening at SustainableJournalism.org 
Leonard Witt is the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication at Kennesaw State University and the chief blogger of PJNet. His academic interests include public and citizen journalism and how to get citizens' voices heard. He has spent most of his professional career as an award-winning journalist.