An association now exists to help citizens who want to submit news and feature articles to YourHub.com.
Launched Sept. 1, the National Association of Citizen Journalists was the idea of Ronald D. Ross, an Aurora entrepreneur and former publisher of the Douglas County Tidbits. In working on the local publication, Ross said he saw a need to train people how to report and write news about their local communities.
He recruited Susan Carson Cormier, a Parker business owner who has more than a decade of experience in the news business and was one of the first contributors to YourHub.com's Parker edition back in 2005.
Ross serves as catalyst-in-chief who is in charge of inspiring and motivating citizen journalists, while Cormier serves as the head coach and organizes the training.
Ross envisions the NACJ being an association of average citizens from across the world who are bound together by their commitment to citizen journalism. By providing a variety of webinars that can be taken at members' leisure, the association hopes to create a new breed of citizen journalists who are proficient at collecting, researching, reporting and disseminating news and information to their communities.
"NACJ welcomes all types of citizen journalists," Cormier said. "They could be anyone - age 6 to 96 - who want their communities to be informed - and informed accurately."
Ross agreed, noting citizen journalists can be found in churches, nonprofit organizations, schools and neighborhoods.
"A citizen journalist could be a seventh grader who likes to write about science, a mom who wants to write about her kid's sporting events, or even government officials or employees who want to enlighten and inform the public they serve," Ross said.
The NACJ has three levels of membership. The first - an intern reporter - is free. Interns receive a free copy of Ross' e-book: 31 Ways you Can Write, Produce and Distribute News About Your Community, as well as a subscription to a twice-a-month e-zine, the Citizen Journalist Post. This level will keep members informed about the happenings in the world of citizen journalism.
The other two levels - cub reporter and beat reporter - give members the opportunity to take training webinars and do homework assignments to learn the art and craft of journalism. They also will receive the e-book and e-zine. A cub reporter can take two webinars for the annual fee of $60. A beat reporter can take at least four webinars for $120 annually.
For more information, visit
www.NACJ.us or call the NACJ headquarters at 720-242-5987.