Users Set Agenda At Patriot-News

Readers are getting their chance to dictate which stories a regional news reporter will cover in Pennsylvania.

Patriot-News journalist Daniel Victor is asking the audience for their ideas on which stories they would like to see him write about for both the newspaper and its online presence – PennLive.com.

Victor says that users will be able to submit their ideas via a comments section on the blog and he will then put these proposals together into a poll form where all web visitors can vote on them.

The beatblogging.org participant says the idea behind the blog is to build a community and to enable the audience to interact directly with their newspaper.

He writes: “Our role is shifting; we are not just story-tellers, we are community-builders. Harnessing the power of the Web is a crucial part of that.”

And he believes that using a blog as the platform for this project is a good way to attract people who maybe haven’t contributed much in the past.

“My theory, which I’m eager to test out, is that there are a lot of level-headed readers out there who may at times be intimidated by PennLive.

“Those people have a tremendous amount of value to contribute to the community if their voices are heard. They have stories that deserve to be told.”

He adds: “You don’t need to be a citizen journalist or have your own blog to leave a comment on a news site that would be valuable to your community.”

[HT – The Editors Weblog]