Brain fart here: The people need to create their own media.

Why can't website savvy and communications savvy people put up a website and maybe call it wikimedia? It could operate like the other wikis where people put up their information both video and written as they observe events. Yes, we have Facebook and YouTube but it's too mixed up with other stuff. Then there are the blogs like Huffington Post with real journalists but if they aren't covering events, they only seem to get the story and report after the fact. All those have limitations. As we have seen this past week, there was a MSM blockade in reporting breaking news.

We need a website that only does news, current events and breaking news. I imagine sections that are international, national and broken down by states and maybe even localities. People on the ground could post their videos and their eye witness accounts and even stream live events. Those with reporters' credentials who can't report on their propaganda media could report there. It could also incorporate information from the other venues (Facebook, YouTube, blogs and DU of course) with links. Of course it would be subject to corrections and other editorial disciplines like wikipedia. This would keep it evolving and honest.

Imagine if there was a go to place for those intrepid souls who streamed and even used their cellphone for a live stream like happened this weekend in Madison? We wouldn't be scrambling for links all over the internet. Anybody else think this could work? I don't have either the internet or editorial skills to do this, but I think among other DUers this could be possible. So I'm throwing this idea out for anyone who can do this and thinks it might be workable.

Whadda ya think???

Serving up video would require a lot more horsepower than serving up wikipedia text.

How do the other websites do it? Do they have donor drives or try to get advertising?

You are on one of them?

As wonderful as DU is, it's not what I am envisioning nor would what I'm thinking conflict with DU. They would complement each other. Also, DU is political. This wouldn't be political but strictly reporting what is happening, hopefully without political bias.

the DU administrators would want to launch a separate website strictly as a wikimedia website. They certainly have the skills, the experience and more importantly the heart to do it.

I agree completely. The MSM "news" s totally irrelevant unless you really are interested in Justin Bieber's new haircut. The main reason I watch any network news programming is for the weather forcast, and the ones on my homepage are nearly as good, and for the local news , which is still OK....
I guess I watch TV more from habit than anything else...


mark

If I had the technical, journalistic and business skills, I would try to do it myself.

I keep hoping this is his reasoning for making the site not for profit.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/keith-olbermann-launches-new-n.html


Here's the site link: http://foknewschannel.com/

Like usanewspapers.com, you get access to news from fifty different states. Catalog them by city, if necessary. The point is, this will be the news that newspaper reporters couldn't get printed in their local papers AND the information has been verified in snopes.com tradition.

ground because their media is failing them. I know it would be messy when breaking news happens so their should be a caveat on new stories stating they havn't been fact checked yet and could those who have first hand knowledge of what happened post their version and either confirm or refute the original story. Otherwise, if you it Snopes style, a new story wouldn't get posted when it's happening. That's the only problem I have with a Snopes version. I also think being able to post cell phone videos of breaking events needs a place that's instantly accessible for both poster and reader.

media organization that is non-partisan and non-profit, not owned by any large conglomerate that has some kind of charter that prevents it from ever being bought or sold.
That way the focus is on media and not on profits or viewers or shareholders.

Al Jazeera English and Current TV. The well funded and monied broadcast news and cable news channels are getting the majority of the viewership. They couldn't really cover what was happening this weekend, like the 24 hour coverage of Charlie Sheen and the Oscars were by the MSM against their limited resources. If you do it like wiki, everyone becomes a reporter in their community. Those who try to astroturf will be up against another neighbor who can come in and say that it isn't so.

What does it matter who gets "the majority of the viewership," as you put it?
So what if the majority of people would rather have 24 hour continuous coverage of who won oscars?

It's not a popularity contest. People just want to know what's going on.

Right now people who want to know what's going on in the world have to rely on Twitter feeds and things like that.

Last night I watched some CCTV (news in English from Beijing). I learned more in 5 minutes than I did all weekend of MSM. CCTV isn't perfect. It's state owned. Fine by me but when eliminating bias and propaganda is a concern it should be owned by a neutral party.

There are many limitations to our corporate news. This would be available to everyone with a computer and an ISP.

about. it takes a leftwing person(s) with deep pockets.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x406935

And those who are participating in the media idea could naturally help create a comprehensive resource directory as mentioned here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x470636


I only suggest these ideas coming under the Wishadoo! umbrella because it's a foundation for community already being built, with tools to connect and create and brainstorm in place. And I'm a huge fan of co-ops; in fact, I'm meeting with an attorney later in the week to discuss creating a nonprofit, community-owned co-op...inspired by the Green Bay Packers model...for initiatives such as a blog network via Wishadoo.

:hi:

A suggestion to whomever might want to tackle this.