My name is Stefan Dill, and I am the web editor for the web site of the Santa Fe New Mexican, the city's daily newspaper.
It is a very interesting gig, especially since the rest of the paper has been willing to let the web department explore some ideas regarding the socialization and democratization of the news process. While some caution and skepticism was voiced initially, the world hasn't fallen, and the web department is committed to developing the participatory model ever further.
about me (in the name of transparency)
I came to journalism via radio. In a previous lifetime, I was a dj/announcer for a small-town (pop. 2500) rural radio station, interviewing celebs and local and national politicans as they came through. No one else had the nerve or interest to do it, so it fell to me by default. I learned my editing skills on that job as well, trying to make coherent sense out of unintelligible, misspelled, and half-empty press releases (I need to know where that farm auction is, please) on the fly as I read these down raw on the 5 o clock news bulletin. I did some basic web design for my music work as well, and between the two, was able to get my foot in this rather wide door. My formal education is in Business Admin (with a lot of law) and an MM in music.
I've always been a voracious news consumer, and trained myself early in my youth to read a wide array of different news sources. We have a comprehensive list on our site of alternative media, as part of a strong collection of various resource guides.
But beyond alternative media of any stripe or slant lies the person the news happens to, that it matters to. That's the beauty and importance of citizen journalism, and why we're passionate about this movement: because it simply matters.
I manage the news and content for the site, but I am merely a small cog in a pretty amazing and sometimes overworked wheel. The team consists of our own in-house programmer Zeke, a production night crew of three very patient folk (Sam, Stephanie, Liz), and our boss Michael Odza, the department leader who oversees it all with great enthusiasm, support and ideas. He'sa great thinker; here's his blog - he needs to update it more often...
The constantly evolving nexus of information technology, modern social culture, and existing journalism paradigms is a fascinating and thrilling place to be. We're committed to exploring and developing that nexus as much as possible, and we'll document the results here.
Share your own thoughts and experiences with us too - whether you are a news reader, or news professional, what's happening to you as you stand on that three-way intersection? what do you see from that vantage point? I'm particularly interested in hearing from the news consumer, not just news pros. For me, an area that seems a bit overlooked in citizen journalism research and discussions is what the non-journalist citizen (the passive consumer of citizen generated news) thinks.
I'm reminded of a music piece I wrote, many groups ago - a furious little metal/jazz piece called "How the Nexus Affects Us". Indeed, the described nexus affects us all, and the delightful thing is that every single person will help shape it, by their choices, their preferences, and/or their work.
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