E-Media Tidbits

NowPublic.com What do you think of this Canada-based global citizen journalism site?

Just back from the Journalism that Matters conference in D.C., I sent an e-mail to colleagues earlier this week asking them to take a look at Vancouver-based NowPublic.com, the citizen journalism site that recently lined up $10.6 million in funding.

My member page says I signed up in March 2005, but it wasn't until I heard NowPublic chairman Merrill Brown discussing the site in Washington that I really focused on what they're up to.

My take-aways from Brown's remarks:

• Web publishers must be very clear about what they want users to do on their sites.
• They need to make it very easy for them to do so.

My take-aways from the site itself are pretty similar. I like the box on the top right of the home page that invites me to write a story or upload photos/video/audio or highlight something I'm reading. I like the article submission page, which is far simpler than the article submission page I'm using to write this Tidbit. I also like the tools and tips in the right rail of that page, and the code of conduct linked from the bottom.

I like the way the home page updates constantly and dynamically with links to anything new posted to the site. I like the way the site invites me to flag a story as "good stuff" or "needs improvement," among other things, but I found it difficult to select any flag other than "good stuff" on this morning's lead story about the earthquake in Peru.

I found myself frustrated by the anonymity of many contributors and staff (Joe Grimm and Scott Libin had similar reactions). Who is that Actual News Guy, anyway? More fundamentally, while the idea of enlisting the site's 126,726 members as content providers is intriguing, I didn't find much to read that was all that intriguing. (That latter problem not entirely new to consumers of Mainstream Media, of course.)

Ellyn Angelotti, Poynter's interactivity editor, highlighted these areas of the site:

• Default media license (An author can choose anything from "all rights reserved" to "public domain.")
• PayPal settings (So people can tip authors for their contributions -- I wonder how many people have made money from this?)
• Voicemail settings (Authors can submit audio reports via cell phone. NowPublic uses your phone number to associate your report with your account.)
• Mobile settings (Submit photos or video directly from your phone.)
• Favorite NowPublic contributors.

What's your read of NowPublic so far? Please comment below.