Navigating the Storm

Newassignment.net, new opportunities in journalism?

Throughout the semester, our interactive class has been a place for discussion about how this is the time for burgeoning opportunities in journalism, especially good for those with an entrepreneurial mind. On Thursday, we got to discuss one new idea about to launch.

Jay Rosen, faculty member at the NYU Journalism school and journalism entrepreneur, came to speak to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism about his new project, newassignment.net. With the goal of sparking innovation in online journalism, Rosen aims to harness the power and knowledge of people on the internet. The result is a brand new form of social networked and citizen reporting.

What is interesting about newassignment.net is that it combines the access and experience of professional reporters and editors with the passion and knowledge of an interested and engaged public. The professionals will work with “posses” of individuals in communities who will both suggest and report stories. Rosen said that newassignment.net will attempt to organize its interested public through a Director of Participation. Whoever takes on that position will have the heady task of ensuring that participants work in a useful and productive way, sorting out all of the crazies and the like.

I believe that newassignment.net appears to be an honorable endeavor. It attempts to bring professional journalism back into the community, tapping into the technology that is changing the industry. It also strives to bring the community in. But I really feel like I need to hold off judgement until I see this in action. After working in fundraising over the past few years, I have seen donors turn into volunteers, do I do believe that there are certain folk truly passionate about journalism and the media who will take that extra step to become participants in the process. If journalism is supposed to be independent, how will newassignment.net prevent certain biased or interested parties in skewing coverage or encouraging mob rule? And what kind of stories will it report on? Rosen kind of danced around that issue, so I’ll be interested to see if this is community-based, like our neighborhood beats or if this form could ever have a national stage.