The term “citizen journalists” has been thrown around a lot over the past few years. From the Arab Spring to mass shootings in the US to the protests in Hong Kong, we’re increasingly getting our news directly from the people who are living it as it’s happening, in real time.
One of the big questions for the media, then, is how to absorb and incorporate all of this information. Having the first headline of the day is no longer sufficient; you need to have the information and put it out there before it even hits the newsstand.
While some companies have done a better job than others at adjusting to this new news paradigm, it’s the startups that have been standing out. New ways to produce, consume, and share news are being created every day and while it may be a scary time for newspapers, it’s an undeniably exciting time for news startups.
One such company is Perspective Magazine, a “news” ebook (quotations theirs) that sources content from whomever has a “vision of what tomorrow’s ‘news’ could be.” The idea is that today’s events are tomorrow’s news and Perspective wants to collect them all in one place. They collect submissions that are as short as a title and a couple of paragraphs, which will be compiled in the “Perspective 2020 Almanac to Everything: A Decade in Review.”
The plan is to include stories that cover everything from politics, health, the economy, climate change, entertainment, the future of technology, and pop culture. Perspective wants to be a uniting publication, bringing together different perspectives in to help people see eye to eye on what’s important.
They’re also working on “The Perspective 2020 Directory of Everything,” which they describe as resource for anyone with a “blue sky idea for a new product or service.” It will also be for entrepreneurs who are looking to get the word out about their product, service, or business.
Perspective will be launching a Kickstarter campaign on December 1 in order to get things moving. In the meantime, if you want more information about this perspective on how news should be collected, reported, and compiled, check out their webpage at PerspectiveTheMag.com. Both professional journalists and citizen journalists are welcome to apply.
