I published my first piece on OhMyNews, a Korean Internet news source that is pioneering “citizen-journalism.”

OhMyNews employs 50 staff reporters and editors plus 38,000 citizen reporters who submit app. 200 stories a day. Much of the professional staff time is spent on editing and fact checking these stories before they are posted.

I wrote my piece on the London bomb blasts late last night. I got an immediate response from an editor in Seoul. I emailed graphics and background. This morning I see the story on the front page of the web site, with some additional info added by the editor.

The story was selected for the main page, top (above the fold in print terms), and earns me 20,000 won in cybercash, app. $20 US. OhMy! – you won’t rake in the bucks like Carl Bernstein but the system works. | See Mark Rose Bio

A few days ago I posted an item, below, congratulating London on the Olympics. The tone invoked typical New York chauvenistic brio – take the Olympics, please. Within 24 hours, after bombs blew up a bus and ripped through subways in London, the post seemed insensitive and inappropriate. News moves fast.

I walked through the New York City streets for hours the day of the London blast. Security was obviously tightened. My brother called from California. “You afraid to go in the subway?” he asked. I laughed, probably the same reaction you would get from a Londoner to that question. The City seemed quieter, in solidarity, although no less determined.

We are seeing a lot of photos of the London blasts taken with cell phone cameras. The BBC posted photos that were sent in by citizens. Once again we are reaching beyond traditional news sources for information, visuals and “feelings” attached to a tragedy.

An Italian graphic artist named dario.agosta blogged this at londonstands.blogspot.com:

To me, London tube is a major symbol of London, and its identity is a major symbol of what good graphic design should be.

…none of us can really feel he or she is safe and sound from what happened in London yesterday, or from what happened in Madrid last year, or from what happened in New York in 2001, or from what happened and still is happening in occupied countries. None. Of. Us.

But, what can I really do (apart from quitting writing such drivel ?). Good point, gosh. I am a designer, I design bloody things.

So there you are.

Echoed from across the Atlantic: New York Stands. Unafraid. See Mark Rose Bio

Despite the ubiquitous advertising, the money, the celebs and the political stunts, few “ordinary” people I know in New York wanted the Olympics here in 2012. London got it and they are very happy and I am happy for them. Why?

First, why do we want to bring the world to New York when the world is already here? Diversity and teeming masses don’t impress us, we live in it. Second, New York operates perennially on the brink of breakdown. Add the stress of the people, infrastructure and security of the Olympics and we could completely disintegrate. Third, the Olympics have been all about politics and we’ve had enough. Mayor Bloomberg thankfully didn’t jam through an atrociously ugly stadium he claimed was necessary for he Olympics but he did manage to get the zoning necessary to turn the west end of midtown Manhattan into a condo mall.

Fourth, do the Olympics really make money? No. Fifth,and most important, bad timing. About 2012 Brookklyn will be a major metropolis with Bruce Ratner’s dozens of high-rises around the new Nets Stadium, the “Freedom Tower” – replacement to the World Trade Center will be up and occupied, and the west side of Manhattan will re-named Trumpville. The British are sensible, stable people. Let somebody else host the world for a change.
See Mark Rose Bio

Amy Gahran, a self-professed “info provocateur” is beginning something called I Reporter: The Citizen Journalism Project. Why?

I’m drawn to this field because I’ve grown to realize that traditional versions of news, journalism, and journalists are no longer enough. The cult of officialdom has reached its limits. There is more than one way to gauge relevance and credibility. We need more kinds of news, from more kinds of sources, to adequately serve the information needs of our communities and the world.

Citizen journalism is an emerging field that is growing in credibility. Perhaps the largest source of citizen journalism is OhMyNews, a Korean news organization that employs 50 staff reporters and editors plus 38,000 citizen reporter volunteers who submit 200 stories a day. Much of the professional staff time is spent on editing and fact checking these stories before they are posted. The citizen reporters must be verified through government registration numbers, and then sign onto a strict code of ethics including a promise not to write a story for personal financial gain and to tell the truth in each piece.

OhmyNews has embraced the philosophy that every citizen can be a reporter. Others act as sources for fellow volunteer reporters or for OhmyNews professional staffers. OhmyNews is a laboratory for the future of on-line communication. | See Mark Rose Bio