Hello all, My brother (yes it runs in the family) has a request for references to help him on a project about citizen journalism, especially as it applies to the web influencing TV content. Here is his request, please respond directly to him at the address below as he's not subscribed to this list (I'm working on that...). Thanks. ------ I am interested in studying Current TV, and could use some guidance as I begin reviewing the relevant literature. Current TV (launched by Al Gore and partners about a year ago) is both a web site (Currenttv.org) and a digital cable channel that provides "news" content targeting 18-34-year-olds. While Current TV has a staff of tv producers and reporters who generate short films (what they call "pods"), they also invite ordinary people to make and upload films onto the web site. From there, both the producers and users select particular films to then be shown on tv. Current TV thus represents convergence both between television and the web, and between producer- and user-generated content. It seems to be an attempt to harness the chaos of the web - a mix of hierarchical, top-down programming and horizontal, citizen media (they mark the films produced by users as "viewer-created content" or VC2.) The web site also has links to community forums, blogs, etc. What I am most interested in, though, is the turn toward citizen journalism, and in particular, bringing what primarily has been a web phenomenon to television (which of course is almost entirely the province of corporate media). If anyone has suggestions about mandatory reading (either seminal or contemporary) I would greatly appreciate it! Please direct any responses directly to me at <gdbaym@uncg.edu>. Thanks so much, Geoffrey Baym