Has Citizen Journalism Become Elitist?

I was speaking with a colleague about Jay Rosen's NewAssignment.Net and Assignment Zero yesterday, and it struck me that I haven't yet seen much product from the much-hyped new way of doing journalism. In fact, I don't even know anyone who's involved in the project. And when I took a look at the sites this morning, all I could think about was how the big ship of Rosen's brand of citizen journalism was leaving port, and I wasn't on it.

What's more, I don't think I care, either. But I want to. Where's the disconnect?

Is the "new" citizen journalism really all it's cracked up to be?

It's not that I don't like citizen journalism -- part of this blog is dedicated to covering the phenomenon, and I'm all for it. But there's something limiting about this new form of grassroots participation. Does this new incarnation really have the level of involvement of, say, Wikipedia?

Could Wikipedia have succeded with deadlines and assignments?

Maybe a better idea would just simply be "Pressapedia" -- an ever-updating wiki that's moderated by the editors Rosen's hired. Then it would function solely as its own publication, and always be up to date (after all, no one wants a comment trashing their piece). It would, of course, police itself. (Which makes me wonder -- what if one of Assignment Zero's writers submits falsely reported information? Then what?)

For now, Assignment Zero is due out June 5, and it has struck a deal with Wired.com to run a piece by Jeff Howe. This too, makes me wonder, though I might have missed it when I read the original explanation for the project -- is Assignment Zero functioning as a newswire? A publication? Or just a freelance reporter with hundreds of brains?

Nevertheless, the more I look at the sites, the less "welcome" I feel in contributing to them. Hell, I'm graduating from the same Department of Journalism that Rosen works for -- why haven't I and my fellow classmates been recruited for such an endeavor? With all of these press releases and articles about it by other journalists (how meta), it's starting to feel more like a grassroots media corporation with a good marketing team than a grassroots reporting team.

I'm not trying to pick apart Rosen's new endeavor(s). I think they're a great new way of thinking -- I just don't feel compelled by them. And I like journalism.

How much of a splash could Assignment Zero have if it takes this long to put out a single story? In the world of round-the-clock news, could a slow turnover rate be the Achilles Heel of citizen journalism?

As my colleague said, it might work in theory -- but not in practice. We'll have to see in the coming months.