Norg.com.au - People Powered News from Australia

Norg, an Australian startup (short for news organization), is bringing the news to the people by giving the people a say. Call it part citizen journalism, call it part social network plus Digg, and you’ll have Norg’s clever amalgam of people powered news. Each Norg site focuses on a particular city where inhabitants can send and share news stories. Each story can be voted for and ranked to give it more or less air time. Users can submit videos, articles, photos, and they may also pen their own stories or provide links to other sources. Categories include sports, business, lifestyle, and technology. Norg sites are currently available for Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. They are planning to expand into North America and the UK within the next year.

“ A norg is about people powered news. Anyone can join and contribute to the news as a Cit J. Add your comments, share your stories, post your pics, submit links to interesting stories, upload your YouTube clips and vote for the stories you feel are important.”

Norg is offering local powered niche community sites which gives the people total control (practically) of each site’s content. Here you won’t get a slanted, mass media view. You’ll get stories that people are really interested in rather than propaganda. Stories that are missed or ignored by traditional media outlets get a chance to be heard and read about here.

Is this really that unique? Has quite a few similarities to Digg. Also will people beyond Australia be interested in this? What will compel users to submit their own stories?