Citizen journalists on the Rise, NowPublic Co-founder Leonard Brody Interviewed

Leonard Brody, co-founder of the Vancouver-based "crowd-powered" NowPublic.com, dislikes the term citizen journalism, although he's at a loss for a better term.

"It doesn't really describe what people are doing," he says. "Telling someone they're going to be a citizen journalist is like telling them they're going to be a citizen dentist.

"Journalism is an art form and profession. Human beings in the masses are good at recording and being witnesses to events, but, in terms of fact-finding, content packaging, storytelling and writing a 300-, 400-word piece, not many people are great at it."

Consequently, Brody adds, solo/standalone/citizen journalism is largely about pictures produced by citizens motivated by money (apparently the minority), ego and vanity, the desire to promote a specific cause or, potentially the most important, people who just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

Site users love "news mapping," which is basically the collation of links and sources through which readers can piece together major stories themselves.