Thoughts on journalism and social software

Some things I’d like to see newspapers (or some other maverick news organizations) do:

• Public editor blogs with comments. Seems to me that this would be a good, convenient way to solicit and encourage reader participation and feedback.
• Local news wiki. Could letting *anyone* — or registered, confirmed users at least — edit and contribute a news story produce better journalism? How could this work on a daily basis? What are the credibility issues involved?
• Rate this story / Critique this story. I’m envisioning a feature where readers serve as quasi-editors, asking questions of reporters and their superiors regarding the story.
• Enable TrackBack and pings on every story.

It’s quite odd. Now that I’m out of journalism, I find myself interested in it again. I’ve been thinking about how blogs, blogging and social software/media can change journalism. Who knows? Maybe I’ll start my own experimental project.

And someday, I too will take the time to enable TrackBack, comments and pings on this blog. … Maybe.

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