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Online Journalism News

Citizen journalism site goes global

Posted: 12/04/05 By: Paul Bradshaw
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Groundbreaking citizen journalism website OhmyNews has opened its doors to contributors from around the world.

The Korea-based news site has attracted considerable attention for the way that it uses thousands of 'citizen reporters' to produce copy. Reporters receive payments depending on their story’s importance.

OhmyNews recently celebrated its fifth birthday and already has more than 37,000 citizen reporters on its books. Its rise to prominence includes being credited with having helped elect the country’s reformist president.

Last year an English-language version of the site – OhmyNews International (OMNI) – was launched and this platform is now inviting contributions from other countries. The new recruitment drive should increase the numbers of international reporters for that site from the dozens to the thousands.

Todd Thacker, editor of OhmyNews International, says they are especially keen to find reporters for Africa and the Middle East. "We ran a poll a month ago asking where our readers were from, and found those areas to have very few readers. We hope to address this soon."

The expansion in international citizen reporters also comes with additional technical changes. A new login system will give reporters control over layout, and they will be able to monitor the number of hits, comments and amount of cash they make. Ohmy News employs editors who check the facts in stories and determine which ones are selected or rejected. Contributors are paid 2,000 won ($2) if their story makes it onto the site. This payment increases to 10,000 won if the story is chosen to lead a section and 20,000 won if it becomes a top story overall. Once logged on, reporters can access an admin screen to see how much their stories have earned.

Future plans for the site include a new 'tipping' system, where readers can send money to reporters for impressive stories.

Potential contributors with a desire to visit Korea may also be interested in a planned conference for global citizen reporters to be held in Seoul in early July.

Terms and conditions for budding citizen reporters can be found here