Happy Birthday Ohmynews. Ten things about Citizen Journalism from Mr. Oh

Mr. Oh, founder of Ohmynews spoke about user-generated content as Ohmynews celebrated its 7th birthday recently.

From the beginning, in 2002 when Ohmynews was only published in Korean and you had to find someone who was reporting about it, I was taken by how citizens connecting via electronic media were actually doing something about the political situation in the real world.

I attended the first Citizen Journalist Forum sponsored by Ohmynews in Seoul in 2005 and was inspired on several levels. First, it was a kind of "tipping point" experience to realize that there were citizen journalist and a publication that was ongoing -- it wasn't a fad. And the diversity of the writers was stunning -- from all countries, students, mothers, business people, travelers, political dissidents, journalists, Wikipedians, the elderly and the young.

Mr. Oh leads by example as a person who cares deeply about citizens and how they are being treated and how they can be enabled to communicate wherever they are on the globe.

In this story, Mr. Oh reviews the responsibilities that some with speaking your mind as citizen in a public forum. His "Ten Preconditions for the Value of UGC" are simple, straightforward and as true as Mr. Oh himself. He lists ten specific actions under the headings of credibility, responsibility, influence, sustainability that all journalists, citizen or professional can take to heart. When we put our voice and heart behind the truth, everyone benefits.