National Press Club to permit ‘citizen journalist’ members

The US’ National Press Club (NPC) is to allow ‘citizen journalists’ to become members through a partnership with cit-j site Helium.com.

The doors aren’t completely open: only the top contributors to the site – those that have earned a five-star rating for their body of work – will be able to apply for membership. However, reaching out to new kinds of media is a big gesture for an established, traditional journalism institution.

Helium’s ratings system will allow the NPC to effectively take on only the most ‘professional’ of the site’s citizen contributors. This could have a two-way impact, as Mark Ranalli, president and CEO of Helium, suggests in a release: “With their [the NPC’s] involvement, we believe we can elevate the stature, awareness and quality of citizen journalism.”

1 thought on “National Press Club to permit ‘citizen journalist’ members

  1. Mark Ranalli

    Thanks for the post Laura. We’re very excited about this new partnership. Combined with our recent Journalism Award partnership with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, we believe we’re adding more and more credibility to citizen journalism.

    Best,

    Mark Ranalli
    President & CEO
    Helium Inc.

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