Culture

MSNBC, MySpace Launch Citizen Journalism Contest

by Jarrett Martineau | June 26, 2008 at 10:48 am

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For many would-be journalists who just so happen to be citizens, gaining media accreditation to key events has become a great benchmark of success and a good indication of the legitimacy of independent media.

In the past several years, bloggers have moved from a position of relative obscurity, at the margins of mainstream press coverage, to being given the MSM's rubber stamp of approval as both a vital and important part of the contemporary media landscape.

With that in mind, MSNBC and MySpace are hoping to capitalize on Joe Public's desire to participate in the news, by offering members of MySpace the chance to win a job reporting on U.S. politics during the Democratric and Republican National Conventions later this summer.

I'm interested to see what kind of response the contest generates amongst members of the social network and what kind of content the winners will ultimately produce. Could a politico-Tila Tequila be the future face of "citizen journalism"?

Citizen journalists, MySpace and NBC News want you to help cover this summer's political conventions.
MySpace, NBC News and MSNBC.com are running a contest among MySpace users for the job of covering the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. One winner will cover for MySpace's IMPACT civic/social engagement channel the DNC in late August; the other will cover the RNC in early September.

The contest is open to anyone over the age 18 who submits a short video piece answering one of these questions: "Why do you vote?" "Why are you the best person for this job?" Or "How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?" Submissions will be whittled down to five finalists by judges Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," as well as Tom Anderson and Lee Brenner of MySpace.

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Mikasi

at 14:37 on June 26th, 2008

Could a politico-Tila Tequila be the future face of "citizen journalism?"

Hrmm... Reality journalism, that is to say no real journalism at all, may be the next thing for the networks. But if a Tila Tequila modeling is to be the standard will all reality journalists be required to sport a watermelon-esque head that is almost exactly 4.2X larger than each breast? I'm hoping so because as a middle-aged guy I am almost there.

mary robb (not verified)

at 14:05 on July 18th, 2008

i dig i prove i investgate, they fear me coming i ask deep questions hire me make me rich so i can leave here to work for you, and people always remember me my looks i make my mark. mary. and do i have alot of information. with money i could go far. and far with you. write me with offer amount. mary po box 19701 okla city okla 73144. hire me.