How to run a Town Square, from someone who does
Lisa Williams, the blogger/citizen-journalist who started the community-journalism site H2otown in Watertown, Mass., has a guest post up on Jay Rosen's PressThink blog, describing how she began doing what she does, how and why she does it now, and what lessons she thinks might be applicable to other communities.
It's a fairly lengthy essay even by PressThink standards. But she gets at a lot of good stuff -- from nuts and bolts to the psychology behind what she does -- and she's an excellent writer, so it's time well spent. She mentions the N&R, but she doesn't talk about YourNews, as you might expect; the part of our little experiment that she likes best is our Letters to the Editor blog.
Go read what she has to say, whether you want to write the first Pulitzer Prize-winning citizen-journalism expose or just post a snapshot from your cell-phone camera. You'll be glad you did.
Comments (2)
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Hi, Lex -- I hope this didn't feel like a snub! You guys have a very well-deserved reputation for leadership in this area. I pointed out the Letters experiment just because it's so unique, and it shows a different method of community engagement.
Have a great week!
(Maybe "you guys" is Boston for "y'all." English needs a third person plural...
Posted on November 16, 2005 11:05 PM
No, Lisa, I didn't take it as a snub at all. I was trying to say, and obviously wasn't clear, that although YourNews has gotten the most attention in the industry, the LTE blog has gotten the most attention from READERS -- and that you picked up on that.
There's that whole gap between readers and the industry again. :-)
And, yes, "y'all" becomes "you guys" somewhere around Baltimore, I think.
Posted on November 17, 2005 8:36 AM