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Associated Content is a fairly new company. They got their start in 2004. Their main purpose is to allow anyone who wants to, the chance to publish. This can be in the form of articles, audio, or video. The person publishing does not have to have any training. They are from all different backgrounds. This is a prime example of citizen journalism.

One of the best things about Associated Content is they pay for the submissions. Quality submissions receive an upfront monetary offer. There are people on the site making hundreds of dollars a month. They have never had any type of formal journalism training. Associated Content states that they are “The Peoples' Media Company”. This is because there is no required style of writing. People are free to write about any topic they would like. The submissions are not edited for spelling or grammar errors.

The submissions are sorted into categories. They also have a news section. Content producers can write about current news stories. They can not just rehash news they heard from another source. It has to be breaking news, or it has to have some type of impact on them. For example, when the shootings were happening in Virginia, Associated Content had stories from people that were at the college. They were able to give first hand reports.

Several content producers for Associated Content have moved on to do other things. Some have been recognized for the articles they have written, or the video they produced. These are everyday run of the mill people with no journalism training. Associated Content is the real life embodiment of citizen journalism.

Every month the company pays thousands of dollars to their content producers through a page view bonus. This can be a great incentive to keep citizen journalists writing for them. They also offer monthly town hall meetings to help improve the content producers knowledge of writing and video production.

Associated Content is a great outlet for citizen journalists to fine tune their writing skills. They get reader feedback through comments on their articles. This keeps the citizen journalism moving forward. Many times someone will read and article and have a different view on the topic, or they can add to the information presented. They write their own article on the same subject, but they give it their own touch.

Associated Content has taken some criticism because they do not edit the articles they print. Professional journalists do not agree with this laisse-fare approach. They have been taught that all articles will be approved before they are published. Associated Content does not approve all the articles. They only look over the ones submitted for payment. They do not change anything in any of the articles, even if they are paid for. It is up to the author of the article to make sure it is free of spelling and grammar errors.

Editors at the site do not fact check the articles either. This practice has also been questioned many times. What happens if someone publishes an article that is not true? This has happened, and was dealt with late, but accordingly. One could argue that the NY Times operates on a more lenient model when it comes to catching and dealing with content producers that, let's say, are fuzzy with the facts than this. The old gray lady has given us the stellar fact-checking of none other than Jayson Blair, and Judith Miller. Quite a dynamic duo of fact checkers indeed.

In the case of the Associated Content situation, the person who wrote the article was banned from submitting any more content on the site. Associated Content tried to give their writers as much freedom as they can. If an article is questionable, it is reported and editors check into it. In the case of Jayson Blair, we was left to fabricate some of the** (reader note below) over 600 stories in whole or in part for over four years while editors looked past red flags. It wasn't until the primary paper in San Antonio, Texas unveiled his fuzzy fact fabrications that the NYTimes came clean in the matter.

Citizen journalism can be seen with every article published on Associated Content. What are your thoughts about sites like Associated Content?

Photo Credit: Megan Cole

** From email: Giovanni,

Your claim that Jayson Blair fabricated over 600 stories for the Times is a tad on the high side. The actual number is 42, which is seven more than the Times claimed in its own expose.

Cheers,
Ted Faraone