NowPublic

NowPublic shies away from the label “citizen journalism,” instead preferring the term “participatory journalism” when describing its “news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world.” It has emerged as one of the fastest-growing news organizations with thousands of reporters spread across more than 140 countries.  NowPublic has become a prominent leader in breaking news: it had more reporters in the affected area during Hurrican Katrina  than most news organizations have on their entire staff, and gathered some of the most extensive coverage of the November 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.  In July 2008, KPMG and Backbone Magazine named NowPublic one of the top Canadian Internet companies in their first-annual PICK20 Awards.

What is NowPublic and what is its reason for living, what’s it there for?

NowPublic is a blogging community that is significantly more contemporary in the technological sense and has a stronger sense of community than other communities. It was created with the goal of advancing citizen journalism, allowing the power of the media and the witnessing of international events to be given to the masses.

Who was it founded by and what was the idea at the start?
NowPublic was founded by Michael Tippett, Leonard Brody, and Michael Meyers in 2005 and is based in Vancouver, Canada. Their intention was to create an army of worldwide citizen reporters to cover news events in a new way, while enhancing traditional media, not fighting it.

Who owns it now and how is it organized, business-wise?
NowPublic Technologies, Inc., a participatory news network, owns and operates NowPublic. Their CEO Leonard Brody has been quoted saying the NowPublic team is “building a billion-dollar company” as they receive financing form venture capital groups. Closing a deal in 2007, NowPublic received $10.6 million dollars in investments after turning down offers to sell the company outright.

What’s the business model, as far as you can determine?
VentureBeat describes that NowPublic’s business model involves licensing submitted content to news organizations such as Associated Press. It also does not give payment for its contributors.

Who is the target audience, in the old fashioned sense: the likely consumer of the site’s content?

The likely consumers are people eager to hear the latest international news in a different way from mainstream media, with interesting forms of media through photos, videos, and first hand witness stories. If a blogger wants an active community that is definitely considered to be LIVE, NowPublic has established that.

What can users do at NowPublic? what are their powers, so to speak?

Users create a profile with their picture and basic information that allows other users to message and contact them. Anyone has the ability to submit a story, photograph, or video once they join the community. Users are then able to comment on other stories, rank other stories, and contribute photographs or videos to other users’ stories.

Who are the ideal users of the site, the ones NowPublic is truly made for?

The ideal users are the ones who actually participate in the community by contributing stories themselves and instigating discussions on others’.

What do the most active users–the power users, the super-contributors- tend to do at the site?

There are editors for each topical section of NowPublic who observe what is happening in their section and ensure that the latest headlines are always up to date in their area, in case a user does not mention a news story soon enough. Users are also able to gain higher ranking and become what is considered a super-contributor by a combination of factors including the input of numerous stories, comments, photos, videos, front page stories, and stories that are ranked well. Other users respect these contributors as more credible and knowledgeable than others.

How does that differ from what more casual users would do?

More casual users either simply read the stories, give an occasional contribution when they find something particularly interesting to write about, or they just comment on other users’ stories to participate in the community.

Anything especially nifty or extremely effective about the technology available at the site?

NowPublic truly grasps the power of the cellular resource by allowing people to send in stories via text message or even a phone call message from the scene of an incident which is converted to a story on the site. There is also a unique highlighting tool which a user utilizes to pull quotes from a news article elsewhere online and incorporate it into their NowPublic post. NowPublic automatically cites the source and this tool adds credibility to any article written.

How about any features of the site that work really really well?
The front page features a mini slideshow of new photographs which have been added to stories. This visual eye catcher is very effective at drawing attention to stories that have just been written and linking to them as well. In general, the layout of the site is aesthetic, contemporary, and extremely convenient and simple to use which has great appeal to new and inexperienced bloggers or those who are not technologically talented. Users are also able to constantly update their story; revisiting and editing allows for a unique experience of live journalism.

What do the NowPublic community standards say?
NowPublic members are not allowed to deliberately obscure vested interests, plagiarize the work of others, abuse or threaten other NowPublic members or staff, post libelous or obscene material, deliberately post false or misleading stories, or break the law to pursue a story. Contributors are expected to take responsibility and follow up stories, be fair, promote interactivity, and respect the community.

How active would you say the users are in communally enforcing those standards?
Users will leave comments if they believe a story is too biased, encouraging the contributor to place an “opinion” tag on the story. Other comments will advise stories to use the highlight tool so that the work of other writers is not stolen. The established editors of each section also look out for material that is unacceptable by these standards.

Divison of labor:  What work does the NowPublic professional staff do to make the site “go?”
Editors of each section ensure that the latest headlines of the news are written about on NowPublic. They are also active in monitoring other users’ contributions and keep the community moving by marking stories as favorites. The team of NowPublic and their consulters are always brainstorming ways to keep the site contemporary and unique from other communities, as well as constantly advancing and updating technology.

As distinct from… What work does the user community do that makes the site go?
Users help the community by interacting on each others’ posts, advising revising of incorrect information, encouraging the use of further technology to advance a post, and messaging each other with recommendations for stories if they admire a certain writer.

What kind of reputation system is there for contributors to the site?
Users are also able to gain higher ranking and become what is considered a super-contributor by a combination of factors including the input of numerous stories, comments, photos, videos, front page stories, and stories that are ranked well. Other users respect these contributors as more credible and knowledgeable than others. Users also have the power to mark others’ as their “favorites”, which also increases ranking.
What other mechanisms are there for creating trust at the site and how do they work?

The highlight tool ensures that when ideas or quotes are taken from other sites or mainstream articles, they are not plagiarized; they are cited and recognized. The ranking system lets users know to a certain extent which contributors are thought of as most credible and trustworthy. The entire sense of community creates an environment of trust as high standards are set.

What do you think binds the user community together?

Although users feel comfortable enough to express their conflicting opinions and interact through arguments, they also constructively build on each other’s stories and comments. There are never extremely controversial or offensive conversations, most individuals have pressure to follow community standards. Because users are allowed to contribute photographs and videos to others’ stories, the interaction between users is tightened even further as well.

Why do you think people come back to NowPublic? What are they getting by returning?

NowPublic is an encouraging and strong community that follows high standards and utilizes a large variety of technology to create some of the best stories to come out of citizen journalism. There were more journalists through NowPublic writing about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than all the mainstream media corporations combined. Although they do not have the incentive of being featured on CNN, like iReport offers, users participate in the NowPublic community for the thrill and enjoyment of being a citizen journalist, as well as the great interaction of users.

Finally, is the community at NowPublic capable of doing actual journalism?

Absolutely. Mentioned already, in situations like Hurricane Katrina, the Virginia Tech shootings, and many other events, the NowPublic community was at the front end of creating headlines and not just on the web. The sense of power users have to create quality journalism and respect that ability they are given. There are so many forms of media for capturing the news on NowPublic that all users are open to act on their inspiration for stories.

Is it capable of doing great journalism?

NowPublic is a popular and rapidly growing community because it has proved itself as a trustworthy and participatory blogging site. It is certainly capable of doing great journalism because it provides huge opportunity for users and considered extremely effective with a great web reputation. People are beginning to realize that instead of stopping and witnessing an event and waiting for it to appear on television or in the newspaper, they are now comfortable enough to create their own news because of sites like NowPublic.

Squished by rather large men on both sides, I sit perched on the gleaming red steps of the rather elegant and exciting election viewing party held at Time’s Square on November 4, 2008. Hundreds of people—the majority of whom are NYU students like myself—sit on the steps anticipating the decision: Obama or McCain? Thoughts upon thoughts buzz through my mind, the most emergent being my utter desire to share this exciting, historical moment in New York City with as many people as I can.

Upon returning home from the viewing party, I decided to write a post on Now Public, not thinking much of it, and immediately began getting responses. Shortly thereafter, I went to Union Square Park to see the wonderful chaos after Obama had won, and decided to post an update to the article with photographs my friend had taken. Throughout the night, my article got more and more views and recommendations, eventually reaching the front page. I was shocked that a newbie to the blogging world such as myself could have found a niche so quick. I began to get thousands of views and several comments, and eventually corresponded with one of the editors about my post. Now Public is proof that anyone with the slightest bit of determination and dedication can be successful in the blogging world.

Now Public is a “tech savvy” site and very easy to use, and therefore I’ve created a “How To” guide so that everyone can take just as much advantage of the “crowd-powered” site as I did.

How To Use Now Public:

1. The site has a prominent tool called “Member Ranking” in which members get points for various actions, some of which don’t even involve writing articles (such as giving recommendations, commenting on stories, having a profile picture etc.). Members should make accounts right away even if they don’t plan on writing articles immediately, because they can boost their member ranking. Member Ranking

2. Now Public allows members to post written articles, photographs, videos, or highlight information from other websites. In order to write, for example, you simply open you account and click on the “write” tool under Make News. Once there, you can write a headline, write a story, add photos if desired, choose the category your article belongs in and add “tags” which are keywords that relate to the article. After the article is finished, you simply hit “publish” and the article appears on the “recently added” section of the category it is in. Story

3. One reason Now Public is described as “crowd-powered” media is because a member can add media—such as photographs or videos—to someone else’s article. Once a member’s ranking is high enough, he or she can add media to any story they choose. Upload Media

4. The highlighting tool is also very dominant on the website, as it allows a member to link other stories from Now Public or any site on the web that he or she feels is relevant to their article. Highlight

5. One last feature that is very helpful is The Newsroom, in which there is a list of FAQS, the possible tools of the website, and information to help solve any problem.  The Newsroom