StartupCafe

The topic of citizen journalism, old/new media has been a  favourite topic of mine this past week after Jeff Ullman mentioned the “death of newspapers” in his talk. To my surprise, the Guardian announced that they are building a blog focused on local media, and for some unknown reason, has chosen Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff. Plus, they are advertising for a position of a local blogger! And we’re not just talking about “pay per blog” type of job – but a real job. With money attached. In fact, it’s marked as a 12 month freelance post. I’ve copied the job description verbatim below.

I’m excited. Real excited. Just because it means that I can see whether this idea of citizen journalism really works right on my doorstep. I look forward to seeing how well it works out, and whether it is better than the Edinburgh Evening News; what different content it will bring. (Ironically, I suspect I will be doing a lot of meta-blogging – i.e. blogging about a blogger  … someone make sure I don’t get stuck in an infinite loop.) If I didn’t run a startup, I would be tempted to apply myself (incidentally, for any future investors reading – I’m not) :).

Lastly, I’ve been talking to a few folk in the community about the future of journalism and in particular, new business/revenue models for old media. And I’m not the only one. There was some consensus about getting a roundtable together – from journalists, to entrepreneurs, to new media folk, to explore possibilities of new revenue models and obviously, whether there would be ideas for startups. If you’re interested, please email me. But do bare in mind that the plan is a plan at the moment…

Here’s the job description for the Guardian post.

The Guardian is launching an initiative in Edinburgh and would like to recruit a blogger interested in creating and curating local multimedia content (text, photographs, audio and video) for their city.The successful candidate will be a confident blogger, know their yelps from their tweets, have a passion for local news and understand how to build relationships with the local community. A journalism qualification is desirable but not essential.Working from your home, or anywhere with WiFi, as a ‘beatblogger’ you will lead the Guardian’s innovative approach to community news coverage in Edinburgh.This will include reporting on local meetings and events with an emphasis on local political decision making, identifying issues of importance to local residents and signposting information and news provided via other sources. You will be willing to collaborate with others to create a vital resource for the city.You will receive support and direction from the project’s editor as well as having access to the wider resources of the Guardian’s London HQ.This is a completely new role for the Guardian, which we believe reflects the shifting nature of journalism. Bloggers with open minds and a willingness to embrace new working methods can find more information, via the link below (detailed job description).To apply, please upload in one document an up-to-date CV along with a covering letter on one-side of A4 detailing why you believe you would be successful in the role and why you feel equipped to cover Edinburgh. Please also include links to your existing blog/sites.Closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday 8 November 2009.We welcome applications from any individual regardless of ethnic origin, gender, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age. All applications will be considered on merit.Textphone (for deaf or hard of hearing applicants): 020 7278 6768