Like a rocket ready on the launch pad, a large digital clock is ticking down the seconds on the website of
The Rapidian in Grand Rapids to its debut in 19 days as the city's most ambitious experiment in citizen journalism.
Grand Rapids is one of 21 sites in the United States that has gotten funding from the
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to see what happens when everyone is encouraged to report news in his or her neighborhood -- journalism students, senior citizens, neighborhood organizers, small business owners, artists. In short, you.
Sporting a clever logo and an easily accessed website, The Rapidian essentially opens the newsroom to everyone who has a story to tell and follows some basic journalistic practices.
News hounds will have an online venue starting Sept. 15 to publish stories that they think have been missed by the established media. Sponsored by the
Grand Rapids Community Media Center, The Rapidian welcomes volunteer and unpaid reporters to submit their stories as text, photos, video and audio files.
Nothing but local newsIs there a farmer’s market down the street? Is a favorite non-profit agency holding a fund raiser? Is there an active neighborhood watch group in the community? Sports stories or other activities at school? A city regulation that impacts on the area? Subjects are endless, say those involved in the planning.
Citizen reporters are being recruited now, with an orientation scheduled Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. in the Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. SE. While the project still is a work in progress, plans are to provide ongoing technical training and workshops on specialized topics presented by media and production staff, as well as experts in various fields, such as business, environmental and law reporting, ethics and children’s issues.
“Anyone with an interest in news reporting is welcome to participate,” says George Wietor, project manager. “Government, the arts, schools, sports or neighborhood events; anything local is what we want to cover.”
The new web site will continually rotate its content, which will be updated on a regular basis as news and information is submitted. News from citizen journalists also will be featured on the
Media Center’s WYCE - FM (88.1) radio and
GRTV, when appropriate.
The rise of citizen journalismThe project is a result of a $128,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, matched by a similar amount through the
Grand Rapids Community Foundation and another $5,000 from the Slemons Foundation. The local project is part of a bigger effort to create some form of citizen journalism outlets around the country as more traditional media sources continue to shrink, lose staff and face increasing challenges from the Internet.
The Grand Rapids Community Foundation was one of the community foundations nationwide selected for a Knight Foundation grant. The grants are part of Knight’s $24 million initiative to help community foundations find creative ways to use media and technology.
“We’ve been funding the Community Media Center for 25 years and this project was a combination of interest and opportunity for us to do something new and innovative,” says Roberta King, vice president of public relations and marketing for GRCF. “We worked together on the proposal and in the planning and community meetings over 300 people from the community voiced ideas, hopes, dreams and desires for this.”
Leading the charge is a newcomer to Grand Rapids. Denise Cheng, 24, is a Vista volunteer, working with the organization’s Digital Arts Services Corp. Through a one year federal grant, Cheng arrived three weeks ago from Portland, Oregon, where she held a similar position. With a background in journalism and community organizing, Cheng is excited about the civic involvement possibilities offered through The Rapidian.
“Citizen journalism has always been very important to me,” Cheng says. “It’s important to empower people and give the average citizen a chance to make decisions and an opportunity to create.”
Network of bureausThe initial hub for the project will be the Wealthy Theatre’s education annex, located next door. From there, Cheng and her staff will develop four neighborhood news bureaus, with its own reporting crew and customized web site. Video and still cameras, computers, audio recorders and other production equipment and facilities will be available through the media center.
Laurie Cirivello, executive director of the media center, says the idea of a citizen journalist news source has been “percolating for several years.” Hundreds of comments and suggestions from social networks like Facebook and Twitter, plus weekly meetings, solidified the project, once funds became available.
“We all live in a community that relies on a robust and quick (delivery) of news and we’re all victims of what is happening to newspapers and other media,” she adds. “It’s a critical time for citizens to be engaged in the community and we created this to try and fill in the gaps.”
Cirivello says the project is not an effort to undercut commercial media outlets, but instead a means to work with them and offer assistance on rounding up neighborhood news, events and non-profit organization efforts to help get the word out.
The idea of The Rapidian is attracting college professors interested in including it as part of their curriculums, high school and college journalism students, citizens unhappy with the way neighborhood news is or is not presented, a younger generation of bloggers anxious to be a part of the “conversation”, and senior citizens interested in being an active part of their neighborhoods, Cirivello points out.
“The big picture is to help stem the loss of local information, but there’s also a literacy component to this,” Cirivello says. “When regular folks can go through workshops and training, we all become more informed consumers.”
Some gatekeepingThere will be evaluations, mentors and monitors of all submitted material, with an author’s name on all items.
“You just can’t throw anything out there,” she adds. “There will be critical evaluation and stories will be rated by readers. There will be guidance and some stories may be flagged.”
That means an editing system will be in place and a structured forum for fact checking established, Cheng adds. Items of public record generally will be fair game; articles leaning toward possible libel issues will be screened.
Novice reporters will have their first three articles evaluated, with mentoring and advice given as needed, before the work is posted. More established journalists can do their own posting, for publishing in real time.
“For the most part there are no restrictions on the type of news (submitted) and we hope everything will be done in a tasteful manner,” Cheng says. “Journalists will be judged by the audience if something is acceptable or not. If the same author was being flagged over and over, the articles would go back to being monitored, then through an evaluation committee.”
Drew Storey is a former reporter with Advance newspapers and now a freelance writer for other area publications. He is a member of the Media Center and part of The Rapidian’s steering committee and editorial board.
Storey, 31, intends to report and write about “the stories out there,” which could center on unheard citizen complaints about the city or schools. He also is interested in covering organized labor issues.
The idea that someone can write a story about a local politician, who then has the liberty to respond with his or her own story, is the appeal of The Rapidian, Storey adds.
“The media center’s ‘do it yourself’ attitude really empowers all people with a need to have their voice heard,” Storey says. “You don’t have to beg Suzanne Geha to come to your house; you can write the story yourself.”
How to get started:
• Register at therapidian.org
• Attend the reporter orientation on Sept. 3, at 6 p.m., Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. SE.
• Talk to neighbors, walk your community. “Listen” to discover news in your neighborhood
• Create a video, audio tape, shoot a photo or write a story about what you find.
• E-mail the story or pertinent information to Denise Cheng at:
[email protected]• If you need help with a story or idea, contact Denise at The Rapidian at 459-4788, ex. 124
A veteran journalist formerly of The
Grand Rapids Press, Mary Radigan is now a freelance writer based in Grand Rapids.
Photos:
Roberta F. King, Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Denise Cheng, Vista volunteer, Digital Arts Services Corp
Denise Cheng, George Wietor and Roberta King
George Wietor, project manager of The Rapidian
All Photographs by
Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved