New Wave Journalism

Internet video has already given rise to a new, often more opinionated and edgier, broadcast journalism — Alive in Baghdad, Moblogic, Gnooze, VBS, to name just a very few– but, today, YouTube and the Pulitzer Center have institutionalized democratized journalism with Project: Report.

Perhaps Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will want to submit?

Like CNN’s iReport, Project: Report draws on the visibility of established brands to bring independent voices to the forefront.

“In each of the three rounds of Project: Report, reporters will be given an assignment to complete. Each of these assignments gives [journalists] an opportunity to report on the important individuals, issues, and communities” in their lives.

The contest consists of three rounds: in the first, participants will file assignments to be reviewed by a panel of journalists from the Pulitzer Center.  Ten will be selected to

advance to round 2, and five of those will be selected as finalists by the YouTube community.  The grand prize winner will be granted a $10,000 journalism fellowship with the Pulitzer Center to report on a story outside of their home country.

I always question the creative ingenuity of those who require outside motivation and, though this does represent an interesting opportunity for a talented aspiring journalist to bring attention to his or her work, I wonder if it completely captures the spirit of new journalism. 

That said, the Pulitzer Center is an important institution that will maintain relevance in the new media paradigm by creating standards that adapt to the new distribution environment, and this is an interesting application of their resources which brings much needed attention to their worthy mission.