Sunday, August 27, 2006
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 In this article from July 31st, we reported about how Tom Callinan seems to be replacing quality reporters with a new interface that encourages regular citizens to submit content for publication in the paper. At the time, the interface was available through NKY.com. Today, the Enquirer has announced the concept to a wider audience.
In an article from today’s paper entitled ”Where to find local news,” Callinan and Co. try to introduce the concept of user news submissions as an expansion of local news coverage. Here is the entire article, as it is rather short:
“We want more local news.”
That’s what Cincinnati.Com users said, and “we’re responding,” said Tom Callinan, editor and vice president of The Enquirer, which runs the online network.
Cincinnati.Com has added 184 community Web pages to its online network.
There are now pages for neighborhoods and communities in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties, as well as Lawrenceburg and Dearborn County, Ind.
The Ohio and Indiana pages join 38 community pages serving Northern Kentucky on NKY.com.
The pages provide news specific to each community from The Enquirer, The Post, the Community Press and Recorder newspapers, WCPO-TV 9NEWS, CiN Weekly, Our Town magazine and other media partners.
They also include news from you and your neighbors. Anyone can submit content for these community pages at no charge, using Cincinnati.Com’s GetPublished! feature.
“We’re asking for you to submit your news, photos and events using GetPublished!,” said Callinan. Content submitted by readers will be posted online and much of it will be published in print as well.
“It’s very simple to use,” said James Jackson, vice president of New Media at The Enquirer. “You can brag about your kids, post pictures of your pet, promote the block party or your church’s fundraiser - just about any information and photos you want to share with your neighbors.”
 Initially, the list of 184 web pages looks quite comprehensive, but a closer examination will show that many headlines and photos are used throughout. For example, the picture to your right (swimmer Stephanie Conklin from Ursuline Academy) currently appears on every Hamilton County neighborhood link. The photo gallery does not have many pictures, but after Stephanie you can find photos of college kids moving things into the XU dorms. Those are the front pictures for all Butler County neighborhoods. In that capacity, therefore, a bit of illusion seems to make the customization more particular than in reality.
But the “Get Published!” feature should raise obvious concerns. It is really nothing more than a blog hosting service that reserves the right to edit for content. Have news? Submit it. Maybe it will show up online. Maybe it will be changed. Maybe it will land itself in the print Enquirer. Maybe it will be heavily edited. No matter what, unpaid citizens have created content to help spread the Enquirer empire.
Take another look at James Jackson’s vision of local news: bragging about kids, pet pictures, block parties, and church fundraisers. This is the kind of content the Enquirer wishes to solicit from the public. This is what they wish to use to fill their shrunken print edition.
Is this news? Is this the future of journalism?
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