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Dan Gillmor on His Move to "Citizen Journalism"

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the change-of-pace dept.

tct25 writes "Tech journalist Dan Gillmor gives OhmyNews International his first interview since announcing that he will leave the San Jose Mercury News next month in order to start a citizen-journalism venture. Many insiders are scratching their heads. Why is the much respected tech writer leaving what he described as 'greatest gig in the world' for the perilous journey of developing an entrepreneurial idea in citizen-journalism? He spoke to OhmyNews at Harvard Law School in the middle of the final day of the College's Berkman Center-sponsored 2004 Internet and Society Conference last Saturday."

2 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Uhhh duh... by jmcmunn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Why is the much respected tech writer leaving what he described as 'greatest gig in the world' for the perilous journey of developing an entrepreneurial idea in citizen-journalism?"

    I can think of two reasons...

    1. almost all big media is corupt these days, and spin the news to their liking just for ratings with the readers, or to get money from the sponsors. Maybe he's just sick of it.

    2. MONEY...he has a chance to "get rich quick" with his entrepreneurial venture. Why not take the risk? If he fails, he can always go back to something similar since he'll still has his good rep (unless he does something really terrible between now and then)

  2. He gives a damn, that's why by mdudzik · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Read his stuff. They're not just "tech columns". They are often political writing well informed by a knowledge of technology. Dan is one of the best columnists around, "tech" or not. I'm sure whatever he does will be worth watching.