couldn't have said it better myself

Here's a quote from the creator of the popular Craigslist site--the epitome of citizens helping citizens--about the veracity of "citizen journalists." I like what he has to say. There used to be a difference between being an eyewitness to an event, and being considered trained in journalistic principles of balance, fact-checking, etc. Both are needed, and both are important. It's also important not to confuse the two roles.

Found this over at the Cyberjournalist site--a nice place for those who put words up on the web for a living.

Craiglist's founder: no substitute for professional journalism

"There's no substitute for professional-level writing and fact-checking and editing. One of the tenets of the effort I'm involved with is to drive more traffic to professional news sites. People have gotten too excited about citizen journalism, and they're not addressing the balance well."

-- Craig Newmark