MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The largest newspaper chain in the United States, Gannett Co., based in McLean, Va., has said it will incorporate "citizen journalism" into its papers.
The company, which publishes USA Today, the Des Moines Register, the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press and other papers, said it would also begin searching for stories at online discussion forums and create online calendar listings, among additional non-news utilities, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The company piloted its "citizen journalism" program in a News-Press article on the costs of connecting water and sewer lines to new homes. The newspaper called on readers from the engineering, accounting and other industry sectors to examine documents and determine the cause of the high costs. The paper then wrote articles on the compiled data using assistance from the readers.
"I am very impressed with the Fort Myers" experiment, said Jay Rosen, a New York University journalism professor. "If that becomes the direction at a lot of Gannett papers, we could learn a lot from that."
