MySpace, NBC recruit citizen journalists

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.

The five finalists will be voted on by the MySpace community, a sort of "Political Idol," if you will.

Mark Lukasiewicz, vp digital media at NBC News, hopes to find people who care about the process and who make the case that they'll be good reporters.