Citizen journalism 3.0: Participatory journalism at the Twin Cities Daily Planet

Among participatory journalism news sites with patterns of short life spans and few regular readers, the Twin Cities Daily Planet stands out as an exception. In its ninth year in 2014, it had an average monthly readership of more than 150,000 unique viewers and a diverse group of approximately 100 non-professional contributors. Given the evolving nature of participatory journalism, this site is significant not only because of its longevity but also because of other success factors that include community engagement-based fundraising strategies, coverage of areas neglected by the mainstream media and its utilization of technological innovations. In addition, this study argues that unlike many well-known studies of participatory journalism, in the case of this nonprofit site the persistence of professional gatekeeping is not an obstacle to amateur participation but an assurance of journalistic standards. This article also highlights new roles for professionals as educator-mentors, moderators, aggregator-curators, and community conveners.