The citizen journalism start-up Scribblesheet has shut down after just six months; co-founder John Ndege said he does think there's a need for citizen journalism, citing the success of OhMyNews, but can't reconcile the site's fundamental problem with finances: "You need money to recruit writers but you need writers to make money."
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There are many other web companies with business models that address that resolve that. Ndege points to Newsvine as "solving the problem" of publishing good stories by using Associated Press newsfeeds.
"Personally that always disappointed me. I felt it kind of betrayed the vision of citizen journalism which was supposed to be about the man or woman on the street telling his or her story, not about the trained professional. Perhaps that is some misplaced idealism, at the end of the day this is supposed to be a business and the business is dependent on well written articles."
I don't think that does justice to Newsvine at all; it's one of the brilliantly well-executed and compelling news sites on the web, IMHO, and supplementing professional content with user profiles and an inviting user profile and credibility building system that actually works is no small feat.
"Now Public has cleverly attempted to position itself as a news broker. Citizen journalists provide it with content and they sell it on to wire services like AP. I assume some of this money then goes back to the original writer. This is the best business model I have seen around citizen journalism and the one I think most likely to succeed. Simple display advertising won't cut it."
Scribblesheet was an ambitious project and its co-founders - both fresh out of college - deserve credit for getting this off the ground. But it's an extremely tricky proposition in a crowded marketplace where there is already a dizzying array of spaces that offer a home to discussion, comment, and, of course, news reporting.
Building up a new brand from scratch in the current web climate, without major funding or a known brand, is extremely hard. I think the key is that these spaces work best when there is a very clear context and objective for how that news will be published and distributed - something NowPublic has done very well - but it's a confusing area for the public, who don't necessarily want to think of themselves as 'citizen journalists'.
