The San Francisco Chronicle's "Two Cents Project" [1] is a pool of readers who agree to be accessible to the Chronilce via email to provide commentary on the news of the day and share their expertise and experiences with readers. Several papers and TV stations that have participated in the CCJ Traveling Curriculum Development Program [2] have begun similar efforts. The Chronicle's model is one of the best we've seen.

On March 25, 2007, Two Cents participants answered the question: What should the next generation of journalists focus on?

Responses varied from the technical (using better grammar) to the topical (focusing less on government process type stories coming out of Washington DC and state and local institutions) and everywhere in between. Here's a sample:

Lou Covey, Redwood City
Finding some sort of accountability would be nice. Right now, journalists, especially bloggers, are more concerned with specific political causes than with providing a balanced view. And that goes for both sides of the political spectrum.

Cindy Blake, Santa Cruz
Corruption and incompetence. Those are the things that are dragging this country down and go largely unreported. Shine a light into the shadows and grab by the tail the hypocrites who come scurrying out.

John Bejarano, San Mateo
Truth in informed and informative perspective. Not "truth" to advance an agenda, not "truth" to power, not "truth" that's sensational but trivial, not "truth" that indulges the readership's or journalist's politics, not "truth" that gets ratings, not "truth" that's speculative or unverified but reported "first", not "truth" that's actually opinion.

Randy Kasten, Oakland
With more raw information now available to everyone, it's also harder to tell which information is the most valid. Ethical, competent journalists can help. Also, the more technology removes the ability of the journalist to get an exclusive, sensational scoop, we may see more journalistic focus on the steak instead of the sizzle.

Click here to view the Two Cents responses to this question in their entirety on the San Francisco Chronicle website. [3]

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