Community Journalism Site three years old

www.hartsvilletoday.com

Doug Fisher had an idea a few years ago that the concept of "citizen journalism" was going to be a more important journalistic movement than most in the news industry were ever going to guess. He is now a professor in the University of South Carolina School of Journalism, Mass Communication and Information Science, and he wanted to put his thoughts to the test. You can read more about how he did it in his papers on this subject, but he and Graham Osteen, at the time the publisher and editor of THE HARTSVILLE MESSENGER decided to put this 'laboratory' in Hartsville. This week, I think on October 30th, the hartsvilletoday citizen journalism web site celebrated its third birthday.

Once and awhile I get the opportunity to talk about some of the unique aspects of Hartsville that make this a special little city in which to be living. Very near the top of the list is this citizen journalism web site. While it may be taking a little longer to catch on as THE place to go for news about Hartsville, it is a crucial place to go for the flavor of Hartsville -- news, views, opinions, art, humor, insight and awareness. The Hartsville community has significantly benefited from the site being part of our media mix.

A couple of years ago a version of the World Cafe method of getting community input was held in Hartsville over about 13 months. The site proved a fantastic tool for providing the after-talk observations shared by those who took part in the meetings. The site allowed a transparency for a public get-together not often available. The comments section ensured that the person providing the recap could be checked by those in attendance.

The Selling Hartsville initiative moved ahead, in part, because of the ability to share information, ideas, involvement-pleas directly with the community on a very timely basis.

Those were a couple of key aspects but this site has provided so much more. We have a view of the community directly from citizen-eye view. There are people sharing photographs of life in this community that provide perspectives many have never even considered. There are people providing commentary on life in the town that demonstrates why complacency is never a good idea. The HVTD contributing community is self selected and is becoming a voice for sectors that don't always make the mainstream news.

As we move into the fourth year of this site there is a strong hope that those who still think they don't have a voice begin to see how they sound as contributors on the hvtd site. What is an example? Suppose you have a neighborhood association and you have begun an active campaign of clean up or neighborhood watch or neighbor helping neighbor. This site is a perfect place for those small-city heroic stories to be told. How do you tell them? All anyone would have to do is read over some of the posts and you will quickly see there is no need to uncover the mystery of the inverted pyramid. All you have to do is start writing your story and it won't be long before you have a sort of conversation going. There are lots more examples of stories to be told and pictures to be shown but blogs are not supposed to be too long.

The hartsvilletoday web site is a major new-media communication vehicle for the Hartsville community but its value and richness depends totally on those who are willing to be the community story tellers. Thanks Doug for making a difference in Hartsville.