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OJR off-base in criticism of YourHub.com
Tom Grubisich finds a sour smell in the success of YourHub.com because, in his view, it’s more PR than grassroots journalism. Although he did more reporting than most journalists who knock YourHub.com, his conclusion is a leap, one that reflects an unfortunate hostility to experiments in “citizen journalism” by many in the mainstream media and a fundamental misunderstanding of what free speech might mean in the digital era.
Of course PR people and others with a cause to promote are going to use YourHub.com. We at the Rocky Mountain News believe in free speech. That means we want to open the door to sharing information, not shut it down for some people in favor of others. The lack of restrictions at YourHub.com makes many journalists uncomfortable. To me it’s exciting. It means that people, yes even PR people, can post whatever they want as long as it’s not violent or obscene.
Critics seem to come at the site with the expectation that it will perform like the community newspaper of their dreams. To Grubisich, that appears to mean it should have many stories on local government. Maybe one day it will. But the site reflects the interests of the people who use it. They’re in control. It’s a Web site that creates new opportunities for residents of any community. They can blog. They can write articles. They can post photos. They can sell things for free. In our mission statement, we call it “a virtual town square.” On a town square, we don’t say some people can’t speak. We let the conversation flow.
YourHub.com adds another dimension to the Rocky Mountain News. Note to critics: it’s a section of the Rocky. It’s the public’s section. We already cover public policy and local government extensively in the Rocky. But there’s much that matters to people that we can’t cover. YourHub.com gives people an outlet to share those things with their neighbors.
Grubisich attacks me as disingenuous because my description of registration wasn’t complete enough for his liking. I personally think there are a range of levels a news organization can establish for identifying contributors. For example, I have no problem with anonymous speech but I take it with a larger grain of salt than I would if I knew the words were coming from, say, the principal of a high school. We decided that contributors to YourHub.com would be identified by name, but that it would be up to them to provide more information. As I’ve told other critics, a strength of the Web is that it is self policing. Other users of the site can provide more information about a contributor or attack him on the very same page. As for postings from people who aren’t registered, remember our policy is to say yes. If a person can’t post something himself, our staff will help. But we always include the identity of the writer, just the same way we would if he had registered and posted it himself.
By the way, it’s interesting that Grubisich finds fault with the way YourHub.com presents the identities of its users when at the very site that published his article, ojr.org, a person who wants to comment on articles, as I did, does not need to reveal the information he thinks YourHub.com should provide. Here’s what ojr.org asks for when you register: “A paragraph or two telling others on the site who you are: (Optional. No HTML tags, please.)” To be clear, anything but a name is optional, just the way it is on YourHub.com.
Grubisich concludes by asking when I, “a passionate advocate of scrupulous journalism” at the Rocky Mountain News, will start talking about values and standards for YourHub.com. If he had called me before writing his article, he would have discovered that the answer is we’ve been having that discussion since Day 1. It’s just that critics like Grubisich don’t like my answer.
“YourHub.com/mission” is the heading on the first page of the style book we give every editorial employee. “What is it: YourHub.com is about names and faces. It’s a virtual town square where people share their lives and make connections. It’s a central place to find important information about each community and a tool that let’s people decide what’s important. On YourHub.com, if people say something is news, they have the power to make it news. YourHub.com is easy to use, interactive, friendly, useful and up to date.”
I have written a number of columns on this initiative. If you’d like to read more about the service, here are the links:
YourHub.com will be all about you
Behind the scenes at YourHub.com
Citizen journalism hits the streets
All 15 YourHub sections now in print
And if you’d like to see some examples of stories on YourHub.com, please try these links.
Bark beetle wreaking havoc on ski areas, backyards
Flying Tigers
Journal of The Ascension Seven
So long, Southglenn
Louthans celebrate 40 years
Peter's Piece