GroundReport

Journalist Rachel Sterne started GroundReport.com in 2006. She wanted to make such a site after her experience reporting on Darfur as an intern at the United Nations.{{cite news|title=America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs |url=http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406111437/http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 6, 2009 |accessdate=24 June 2011 |newspaper=Businessweek |date=3 April 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.ifra-nt.com/website/ntwebsite.nsf/0/17EF43E4572AA8F9C125730F00574CE2?OpenDocument&1&G&MIMPAL-74LADF |title=Q&A with Rachel Sterne, GroundReport |access-date=August 18, 2007 |archive-date=October 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001204120/http://www.ifra-nt.com/website/ntwebsite.nsf/0/17EF43E4572AA8F9C125730F00574CE2?OpenDocument&1&G&MIMPAL-74LADF |url-status=dead }} To run GroundReport, Sterne started Open News Platform, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in New York. In 2008, Sterne expressed a wish to expand GroundReport with regional editions.[https://money.cnn.com/video/#/video/news/2008/09/03/news.groundreport.090308.cnnmoney CNNMoney: Blogging for Profit] In 2009, BusinessWeek named Sterne one of "America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs".{{Cite web |url=http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm |title=America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs: Ground Report - BusinessWeek |access-date=April 6, 2009 |archive-date=April 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406111437/http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm |url-status=dead }}

GroundReport used a Wikipedia-like model of volunteer editors and community feedback, combined with a star rating system. Contributors chose from a range of Creative Commons licenses.[https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7610 CC citizen journalism site GroundReport re-launches; GroundReport TV launches officially - Creative Commons] On September 17, 2008, select contributors were given the ability to revise content in any article.{{Cite web|url=http://www.groundreport.com/Media_and_Tech/GroundReport|title = GroundReport}} In May 2009, GroundReport implemented a vetting system that requires review and approval of every contributor.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/idealab/2009/06/citizen-journalism-networks-stepping-up-editorial-standards158.html |title=MediaShift: Citizen Journalism Networks Stepping Up Editorial Standards |website=PBS |access-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-date=February 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210192040/http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2009/06/citizen-journalism-networks-stepping-up-editorial-standards158.html |url-status=dead }} GroundReport has a strict copyright policy and distributed vetting system. Contributors who plagiarized or posted copyright-infringing material were banned from the site.

Among the news stories covered by GroundReport's contributors were the United States presidential election of 2008, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, and the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

According to Adweek, GroundReport received 29,187 unique visitors in December 2010, down from 60,802 monthly unique visitors earlier that year. The Adweek journalist commented: "Even during major events, GroundReport's influence was very small. As the BBC News reported in an article on Dec. 1, 2008, following terror attacks in Mumbai that had been covered on the site, 'it is worth noting that the original story on the GroundReport Web site has attracted fewer than 200 viewers so far, whereas untold millions have watched television reports in India and around the world.'"{{cite news|title=Who and What Is Rachel Sterne?|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/who-and-what-rachel-sterne-125536|accessdate=24 June 2011|newspaper=Adweek|date=25 January 2011}} GroundReport's content was syndicated to Google News.

In July 2015, volunteers from Injustice Anywhere began to help with restructuring, and a redesign of GroundReport.com launched on September 22, 2015.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.newyorkreviewofideas.com/2009/06/wiki-journalism/ New York Review of Ideas: Wiki Journalism: Is Rachel Stern’s DIY news the future of citizen journalism?]
• [http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs: GroundReport] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406111437/http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/11.htm |date=April 6, 2009 }}
• [https://money.cnn.com/video/#/video/news/2008/09/03/news.groundreport.090308.cnnmoney CNNMoney: Blogging for Profit]
• [http://www.alleyinsider.com/groundreport/index.html Silicon Alley Insider coverage of GroundReport] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929044924/http://www.alleyinsider.com/groundreport/index.html |date=September 29, 2007 }}

• {{Official website}}

{{Citizen journalism}}

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Category:American news websites

Category:Citizen journalism

Category:Internet properties established in 2006