Oshkosh News Goes Live

New Web-Based News Source
Starts Operating in Oshkosh

Oshkosh News, a Web-based source of information and a platform for community interaction, began operations Sept. 1 at http://www.oshkoshnews.org.

The Web site is operated by the Oshkosh Community News Network Inc. (OCNN), an Oshkosh-based nonprofit organization focusing on participatory journalism.

Participatory journalism allows individuals—whether trained as journalists or not—to become involved in and exert greater control over how the news is covered. It has been enabled by new technology, such as digital cameras and low-cost programs for Web logs, and encouraged by the recent consolidation of media ownership, which has coincided with a decline in investment in news gathering by traditional journalism organizations.

The Oshkosh News site is designed around a series of projects. These include:

• Oshkosh@151: An Electronic Scrapbook. This will be an online community scrapbook consisting of photo images to be submitted by area residents and memorializing life in Oshkosh during its 151st year. The Oshkosh Public Library is a partner in this project and has agreed to create a permanent archive of images and descriptive data.

• Online Candidate Forum. Candidates in a local political race will debate and discuss the issues on line using a Web log. Using a separate Web log, citizens will also be able to comment during the course of the forum, which will last approximately one month. This project is cosponsored by the Oshkosh League of Women Voters and the Oshkosh Public Library.

• Oshblog. This is a virtual town square, in the form of a Web log (or blog), where Oshkosh residents can post news, information and commentary affecting the community.

• Oshkosh Dining & Entertainment. This site is also built around a Web log format and allows residents to submit reviews of dining and entertainment venues. This forum is also available, free of charge, for anyone in the local dining or entertainment business to promote their activities.

The Oshkosh News site is hosted as a public service by the Oshkosh Public Library.

For more information, visit www.oshkoshnews.org.