I have often been wary of the blindly optimistic celebratory cries of "citizen" or "democratized" journalism, but it is undeniable that significant movement has been made in that direction. Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis posted this article about "citizen" journalism, which they wrote for the Nieman Reports in late December. They present a thorough and well thought-through look at the developing relationship between increasingly consumer-driven media and the hierarchical forms ofmainstream media (though at what point, if it hasn't come already, do we consider weblogs "mainstream"?).

"Media companies and those starting citizen journalism endeavors need to understand that media is becoming more of a social entity. As in any social environment, there are participants who serve different roles in the creation, consumption, sharing and transformation. This is giving rise to information ecosystems, such as the blogosphere, which we are just starting to recognize and understand."