NowPublic’s members are the crowd that powers our news — a diverse international group of writers, journalists, photographers, videographers and news junkies who report, discover and share news that matters. Through eyewitness stories, photographs, and videos our global network of members is inventing the next generation of online news.

Unlike traditional news organizations, NowPublic enables you to participate in the news-making process as:

• subject experts who have gleaned niche knowledge in their professions (academics, managers, business owners), but want to share info in off time with the layperson;
• stay-at-home or retired experts who have taken a temporary or recent leave, but are still in the loop and ideal mentors to the general public;
• Web-savvy undergrad students or recent alumni looking to translate education into audience for career gain;
• proficient, niche hobbyists with a depth of experience and personal examples to bring to bear on current events;
• fan community “buzz builders” who have earned a following due to their breadth of knowledge and witty commentary on particular aspects of popular culture;
• print media journalists who have a wealth of experience, but have been laid off in the recession and are looking to retrain for the Web;
• YouTube or other video site high-performers/posters who have a keen eye for audience-friendly and well-produced material précised for bots & viewers;
• Flickr or other photograph-centric frequent publishers with skills sourcing, composing and captioning the best photos to accompany text;
• social networking conversationalists and trend-spotters and setters who can anticipate the interests of curious browsers and answer questions before they’re asked.

Got a story to tell? As a NowPublic contributor, you can write and upload your photos and videos to the site and recommend other people’s contributions. Want to start slow and post a comment first? Have at it, but follow our Code of Conduct pretty please.

If you've already posted your first story and are looking to put a bio to your byline, check out a few tips re how to post a professional profile or get to know our NowPublic staff. If you're ready to get down to brass tacks and learn a few tricks of the online trade, visit our article guidelines to boost your traffic, interactivity and stature on the site.