Episode 10 - The one where Digitella reviews Reporter.co.za

For her final project for the semester Digitella had to choose one citizen media site to review. Prof. Lineon suggested Reporter.co.za. "It's a good example of an entire site that is dedicated to citizen media. All the content - videos, audio and photographs - are produced by the readers," she told Digitella after their morning lecture. "Visit the site and talk to some people who have used it and what they think. It could make an interesting blog ..." she said with a wink.

Digitella thought about her assignment the entire morning and was still thinking about it when she went to fetch her laptop - that was finally fixed - from Chip.
"You look miles away," Chip said, handing Digitella her laptop.
"Just thinking about this site, Reporter.co.za," she said.
"Oh yeah, I know that site," he said.
Digitella was surprised, "How do you know about it?"
"I've registered and even had some stuff published," he said, proudly with a smile on his oil-smudged face.
"Oooh, how does it work?" Digitella asked.
"It's pretty simple really. All you do is go to the site and register - it's free and once you've registered you can get stuff published."
"No offence, Chip but you're not the best writer ..." Digitella started.
"Oh, no I know but once you've registered as a member you have access to the Reporter virtual newsroom where you will be mentored by a team of highly experienced journalists, like yourself, with skills ranging from reporting to editing to web production and design." he said. "There are also lots of resources on the site to help me write better. There's a story guidelines section, and a Reporter Zone, which is a special section on the site especially for citizens who want to write," he said. "I also get to have articles published online for people all over the world to read and I get paid for it too," he smiled.

"How much do you generally get paid?"
"It's pretty small, all content is graded different categories like Gold (for the homepage), Silver (top of various sections) and Bronze. These carry a payment fee of R35, R20 and R15 per published contribution."
"How does the payment process work?" Digitella asked.
"Well, you just give your banking details and a certified copy of your SA ID - but it's totally secure" he said, noting Digitella's sceptical expression.

Later that afternoon Digitella ran into Tek while he was his way to the news office. "What do you know about Reporter.co.za?" she asked.
"It's a Johnnic Communications publication and has been modelled on the Ohmynews site. It's been quite successful so far. I mean in the first month, there were over 2500 reporters registered on the site," Tek said. "I think the jury is still out as to whether its going to be successful or not, but I believe there is a space for citizen media in South Africa, and it is the first site of its kind, so I think it has a sporting chance."

Digitella went home to write her blog on her fixed laptop - only time would tell if Reporter.co.za would start a new trend in South African journalism.