Let me start by saying that if you are not on IP, you probably should be. David Coursey, of ZiffDavis, published this article on Citizen Journalism, in particular referencing a post about NPR and Hurricane Katrina coverage. Since Mr. Coursey wrote his comments about this on the Internet, I thought I’d write my reply here (he was sent this via e-mail also). My comments below were sent to Dave Farber, the moderator of the IP list. You should probably click through on the link first and then read my remarks that follow:

Dave —

For me, the key statement in the article by Mr. Coursey is the following:

“What I have described isn’t a really big deal. While I can’t prove censorship didn’t take place*it’s always hard to completely rule out any possibility*it seems like what we have is a well-intended question that didn’t need to be so widely asked.”

Mr. Coursey seems to have difficulty with the concept of a large conversation space and is asserting that it is journalism. Really IP (and other lists) are discussion spaces, places where people hang out to ask questions, post ideas, and get comments. The fact that it’s moderated doesn’t make it journalism; we that subscribe all agree to allow you to decide what others might want to hear about. In this regard, we rely on you for this primarily because we assume you have some sense of what others are interested in and whether the participants on IP might want to discuss the topic. Or perhaps we just like the things that you pass along (are you the Rush Limbaugh of the listserv world?). Either way, we know what we are getting by subscribing; no one on this list is under any illusions that you provide a news service like Reuters or AP. Except, perhaps, for Mr. Coursey.

The wonder of the Internet is that we have the opportunity to have a conversation with a few thousand interesting people. Our choice to listen to certain channels is no different than our choices of what groups of people that we might listen to at a party; only on the Internet the room is bigger.

I will add one other comment, though, that Mr. Coursey should have brought up but didn’t. The reality of the Internet is that old cartoon about no one on the Internet knows that you are a dog. When someone does make a claim or comment about something, they are in many cases unknown individuals. In that regard, people are quicker to write things and pass them along than they would be if they had to say them in person. This leveling of the playing field sometimes brings out the worst in us — we’re too quick to judge, comment, and say things that perhaps we shouldn’t. That’s not a statement about editorial control, just about people and Internet. IP has fewer problems with this than most lists do — generally you don’t post things from people who are completely unknown to you and I can’t recall seeing a post without a name. But it is a reality of the forum that we use.

As such, before Mr. Coursey decided to attack “citizen journalism”, he should have asked himself this — if we (IP) were all in an auditorium with you at the podium, would this question about NPR and Katrina have been asked by an individual sitting in the audience? My answer, after re-reading the original post, is “yes”. And that test to me indicates the value of the question and the appropriateness of the post — well-intentioned and widely asked.