Susan Cormier

Two of the most frequently asked questions I get about the National Association of Citizen Journalists are:  “What is a citizen journalist?” and “Are you talking about bloggers?”  So let’s talk about citizen journalists and bloggers. There is a difference. Both citizen journalists and bloggers are everyday people who are involved in their communities or are passionate about an issue. They want to inform others who also share their interests. They could be anyone – from a mom writing about her kid’s sporting events to a volunteer writing about a food bank’s need for donations to a government employee wanting to inform residents about an upcoming program, to activists seeking to sway your opinion their way. Generally, speaking here are the differences: Citizen journalists, like professional journalists, do research and conduct interviews. They write their articles in... (more)

Strong Need for Citizen Journalists

The problem of shrinking professional news staffs hit me personally when a friend of mine was killed in an auto accident on March 8. The Denver Post reported the accident and his death, but it failed to follow-up the next day with an article explaining what happened and to identify the driver who caused the five-car crash. I called the newspaper several days after the accident to request a follow-up article. At the funeral six days after the accident, friends and family were forced to speculate about what may have happened because there hadn’t been any subsequent news stories. L... (more)

Handbook for Citizen Journalists – Coming Soon

A tremendous amount of research, writing and editing has gone into this landmark book for citizen journalists being written by the National Association of Citizen Journalists’ Ron Ross and Susan Cormier. However, the book is not finished. In fact, it is still undergoing some serious rewrites and additions. Briefly, Ross writes from his perspective as a former publisher and hyper-local news website owner in need of citizen journalists. Cormier writes from her 28 years of experience in the media arts, including stints as a broadcast writer, legislative bureau chief, city editor an... (more)

Two Ways to Tell a Story

The words that are used to describe a crime scene, a car accident, a public incident, or the reactions of individuals and their behaviors can make a big difference in the way a story is told and understood. While citizen journalists should try to capture the details of the moment for their readers, they also should be careful in choosing the words they use to describe an event or scene. A website - AmericanRhetoric.com - provides a great example of two ways a story was told by two different individuals. Both individuals believed they were telling the "truth." But what they were ... (more)

Common Writing Mistakes Corrected

While doing an incredible amount of editing lately, I've noticed that writers and citizen journalists are making some of the same mistakes. In an effort to cut down on my editing marks, I thought I'd outline how citizen journalist can avoid three errors I keep seeing over and over again. 1) Start your story with the newest information available. Your lead - or first paragraph - should include the news that just happened. That news can - and should - be followed by background information about previous events or developments related to the most recent news. Let's take a fictitious ... (more)