Since the summit, GroundReport has focused on international coverage and syndication. We’re syndicating content so that people can find GroundReport stories wherever they live online. One tool that helps people get GroundReport is our news widget, which works on iGoogle, Apple dashboard, Netvibes and Vista. We’ve also integrated with Technorati and are working to do the same with Topix and Daylife.

For groundbreaking international reporting, we are working with Columbia University Professor Anne Nelson, who studies new media and the developing world at SIPA. We’re looking forward to publishing her latest investigation of new media and development, creating an ongoing collaboration with her students and evolving GroundReport’s platform with her guidance.

One more addition, we’ll be part of Netvibes’ sponsored search results for Ginger, their new, more social news platform. You can find us in the press release.

Introduction and Narrative: GroundReport started as a side project for Rachel Sterne after reporting on the United Nations Security Council on events taking place in Darfur. Sterne, who worked for LimeWire at the time, was concerned and agitated by the lack of public awareness about these events. About one year ago GroundReport, a network of over 1,000 citizen journalists from around the world, went from being a side project to Sterne’s full time job.

Main Goal: To democratize the news in three ways.
1. GroundReport allows everyone to participate by posting articles, videos or livestreaming content.
2. The community decides what is on the front page through voting - there is no editorial control.
3. GroundReport shares revenue with all contributors based on traffic to their stories.

Notable Achievements: GroundReport has 1,000 different contributors from all over the world including Zimbabwe, Mali and Pakistan.

Using various tools, GroundReport has media offerings comparable to a large news outlet. GroundReport has its own television channel and will soon be launching GroundReport radio. GR Television allows listeners to become deeply involved in the programming and reporting of content for specific time slots.

A Surprising Realization: “I’m always surprised and happy about how passionate a lot of our users are and how they identify with the mission that we have,” says Sterne.

There is also the surprise of having to strictly define things. Sterne’s original motivation was to create an open forum, but she found a need to be more of an editor than originally intended “because people need to know what you are trying to create and if what they have is appropriate,” says Sterne.
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