Everybody wants to make business out of citizen journalism but don’t understand quite well the concept.

In the case of the German groups, they probably don't want a repeat of the Korean's OhmyNews' present predicament just because it did not operate as a business enterprise. Hence, the German groups would want to ensure they will also make money by making reporters pay. Please read first this one from Hugo E. Martin’s blog. Take note that I found this piece because it mentions my name, saying I am right. This was a comment I made in BusinessWeek.com

I am right that Oh of the Korean OhmyNews did not put up his paper just for the money but to help the people. I am right that if the paper loses, so what? It was not all for the money, but for the peoeple. That’s what Hugo meant. Then he continued that the model of OhmyNews may not be that of mainstream media but is definitely helping the people.

Therefore, what? That citizen journalism set-ups should not be judged on the basis of losing money. That’s what I said. Hugo E. Martin’s agrees.

But what is this about making writers or reporters pay entry fee? Read on.
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Biz Problems with OhmyNews?
Moon Ihlwan (BusinessWeek's Seoul bureau chief) writes on BusinessWeek.com

"The Korean site for citizen reporting hasn't had much success so far with its moves into other markets—and it's in the red at home ..."

"Few doubt that OhmyNews, which galvanized younger voters, contributed to the election of President Roh Moo Hyun, who was portrayed by Korea's mainstream newspapers as a dangerous leftist with little chance of victory. OhmyNews readers, prompted by citizen journalists' reports that Roh was trailing in the vote, sent out a blitz of text messages urging friends to vote for Roh, and he prevailed by a narrow margin.� Ordinary citizens found a medium to serve their interest and express themselves…�

" … OhmyNews has since become one of Korea's most influential media outlets. However, the site continues to look for a profitable business model and is expected to lose money in 2006. This comes after a several years of very modest profits. OhmyNews, set up in 2000, now has about 90 full-time staffers—65 of them journalists—and some 44,000 citizen contributors. Together, they produce around 150 articles a day. This year, it expects revenues of about $6 million, 60% of which come from online ads and the rest from the sale of the company's news product to Internet portals, and from miscellaneous services….�

More on OhmyNews….

The first comment on BusinessWeek.com [i]is from Jane Abao. She writes:

"True or not, the paper will go down in history as having done something great for the citizens: put up a president of their own choice. OhmyNews does not pay its reporters much who do their work out of passion for writing and for truth. On this score, I don't see how it could get into trouble financially. If it does, what's the beef? Oh has made it clear even from the beginning that not everything is money."

She is right and sure the OhmyNews model is not and will not be the preferred business model for Main Stream Media like Business Week / McGraw-Hill, but it seems to serves its readers / readers community very well ... and it is not too late to learn from that project!

With one of my clients in Germany, we’re right now working on an extended model of social media and conceive of a site / platform for citizen journalism not only for readers and writers, but open for others to participate as long as they are bringing value to the community and pay their entry fee ... stay tuned for more!
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That was Hugo E. Martin who writes on issues on media and the Internet.

So, is it citizen journalism this time where writers pay an entry fee? With this set-up, you can be sure you will reap advertisers but not legitimate reporters interested in the welfare of the people.