Much of the citizen/participatory journalism efforts are driven by the theory of hyperlocalism, i.e., citizen reporters at a very micro/neighborhood level. If you are new to the idea of citizen/participatory journalism, here's an excellent primer by Mark Glaser. Nathan Alderman at J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism in College Park, MD, also highlights some of these in greater detail in this nice survey.
It's a brilliant and necessary direction. As discussions roil over how newspapers can re-orient themselves in the wake of blogs and these other current trends, many pundits are advocating a similar hyperlocal approach, as in Barry Parr's piece..
I don't disagree at all with the hyperlocal approach, but I do think removing global and international news coverage entirely from a news mix is wrong. As I posted to Barry's piece:
Don't underestimate or assume you know what your readers want online until you get to know them.
I suggest introducing comments on articles, and for the purposes of learning your community set a system where comments have to be approved before they go live. You really get to know the community, and what their interests are.
The results may surprise you; a lot of international and national stories get a huge amount of comments. This is why I disagree strongly with the idea of blowing off national and international news as a mere add on.
Sure people can go to other sources, but if you are a news site, most of your traffic is going to be from other people at their workplace; they don't have the time or want to risk being seen by their boss to sift through 5 different sites for their news. You need to provide a relevant mix, but make it unique and hand pick those stories as opposed to running a bland autonomous AP feed. Even AP runs material not found in the mainstream if you dig hard enough - and your readers will respect you for it. You dont have to inundate and it should never eclipse local coverage - but dont make the mistake of blowing it off.
Web content managers should well look into the work of Doug McGill and his work in tying global trends to local interests. As passionate as I am about the hyperlocal trend, I'm equally passionate on this point too.
On this front, we have an interesting series on Saudi Arabia written by a gentleman who taught English there off and on for over twenty years. The topic is timely, relevant, his experience invaluable.
In terms of wire coverage, I work generally with three factors:
1) finding themes and issues that your audience can connect to. Water's a big issue here - so how do other countries deal with water conservation and the politics of natural resources? Tie your wire coverage to local issues.
2)We try to find stories or analysis when possible that other mainstream news outlets might overlook. Many times we've brought to the fore little known information and alternative coverage that you WON't get on other sites. As reader Aimee Broustra wrote in to thank us, "Formerly, I subscribed to the International Herald Tribune. Since the New York Times purchased IHT from the Washington Post in an unfair monopolistic leverage, the NewMexican is my only source of international news. Bravo to your coverage of world events!" Thank you Aimee for permission to use your quote. (Incidentally, she is no stranger to world media, her husband having written and published several economic articles and newsletters while based in Paris).
3) Get a forum attached to your stories and start to learn what people respond to. Don't pick a story on the sole basis that it will generate a strong discussion, but if you get a sense as to what your community responds to - what matters to them - , you can match accordingly.
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