Jeff Jarvis has more on a proposed Citizens’ Media Association.
Writes Jeff, who is the best person to lead this effort:
I’m expanding this past weblogs, for we don’t know what will develop now that the people own their own printing presses and broadcast towers. And the last thing we need is to get into a fit of exclusionary orthodoxy about what is and isn’t a weblog. …
The Association will:
• Gather and disseminate statistics on the size and success of citizens’ media …
• Protect citizens media practitioners by seeking libel and liability insurance and by seeking, through courts and lobbying, to assure that the rights of a free press extend to citizens who create media online.
• Promote the medium with advertisers, marketers, media, and newsmakers.
Membership will be open to any creators of citizens’ media online. The association will be governed by an executive committee elected by the membership.
The Association will be supported by member dues and, if possible, a foundation grant to encourage the growth of this democratizing medium.
Next step: A meeting of volunteers to establish a steering committee and set its goals for drawing up a mission statement, bylaws, and a budget.
This is an important step for the emergent forms of participatory media. And I agree with Jeff that such a group should not be limited to bloggers, given that new forms of open media — including RSS and citizens-based video media — are already emerging.
One thing I would suggest adding to Jeff’s first draft:
• Encourage the proliferation of citizens media by supporting the creation of new tools that foster grassroots participation in media, and by offering guidance in the use of such tools.
Also, it should be made more explicit that the association would be a nonprofit entity. One suggestion I would make is to keep dues as low as possible: perhaps $10 a year. The exorbitant price of almost all journalism associations effectively shuts the door to independent writers. A citizens media association (or whatever the final name turns out to be) should be run on a shoestring budget. Meetings should take place in cyberspace as well as in the real world, so travel expenses are kept to a minimum. If this is to succeed, egalitarianism and open access must be top priorities. Hooking up with a foundation or university media department (such as NYU, Columbia or USC) would also be beneficial.
Kudos to Jeff for his outstanding work in getting this off the ground.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
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