Soundbite-worthy?

In the United Kingdom, online citizen journalism — when non-journalists record, write about and publish content on a newsworthy event — is fast becoming a means for newspaper sites to maintain a sense of community relevance.

The Teesside Evening Gazette, part of the Trinity Mirror, is aiming to recruit at least 1,000 contributors to its hyperlocal network of news sites over the next 12 months. There are currently 400 registered contributors for its 22 postcode-based sites.

The websites rolled out last January and have already gained an audience of 150,000 users a month.

Currently, two community coordinators are responsible for recruiting new bloggers and community correspondents, moderating posts and adding supplementary content. Trinity plans to expand its staff to handle projected growth.

Among the benefits of the networks is the ability to geo-tag content, meaning users will have access to maps of local news and information, like gas prices, said Gazette editor Darren Thwaites.

But monetizing the site may prove challenging. Current revenue comes mostly from reverse publishing, when publishers use web content in their printed versions. In this case, the Gazette publishes five products from the "best" demographic areas.

Local businesses may be offered targeted, low cost ad deals as a way for the Gazette to expands its revenue base, Thwaites suggested.

In the US, major media networks increasingly use citizen journalists to get the scoop on local news, such as the state-by-state presidential primaries.

FastCompany also opened up its editorial to readers with a user-generated publishing platform. And in May, YouTube launched a Citizen News channel for up-and-coming newscasters armed with digital cameras and video phones.