Novi Medij

Novi Medij (New Medium) is a media project launched by the Croatian media company Europapress holding (EPH). The aim of the project is to create a mainstream "wiki-newspaper" that would combine both user-generated content (often referred to as citizen journalism) with professional journalism.

History

Guerilla posters

The project was started in an unconventional way, with a group of enthusiasts in EPH conceiving the idea of a "wiki-paper". They decided to break into company's building around 4AM, and cover the place with more than 500 posters containing revolutionary and provocative slogans, such as "We are fed up with conservative ways in mainstream media" or " Our management is too slow in embracing change."

Unsuspecting co-workers were mostly shocked the next day upon seeing the posters. Famous Croatian blogger T-Zombix reported on the incident within hours. [ [http://zombix.net/glob/2007/05/18/pobuna-u-eph Zombix (The Chronicles of…) » Pobuna u EPH? ] ] Those involved in the poster rebellion later claimed that their goal was winning over the Board's support for the project, and attracting others interested in working on the new publication.

Public blog

After the poster campaign, Novi Medij started a public blog to discuss their ideas for a "wiki-paper". At first merely an internal blog for EPH employees, it soon started attracting others from the media industry, as well as citizens who offered their opinion.

Open meetings

Novi Medij started holding open meetings of its project team which can be attended by anyone interested. All potential employees are also invited to attend the open meetings before individual interviews. Croatian daily Jutarnji list reported on the first of those open meetings [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/dogadjaji_dana/clanak/art-2007,6,21,novi_medij,79442.jl Novi projekt EPH: Kreće 'Novi medij' čiji će sadržaj stvarati i čitatelji - Jutarnji.hr ] ] , giving the project a more public profile. After the article, numerous Croatian blogs and forums mentioned the Novi medij project.

Public decides the name

On July 05, 2007, Novi Medij launched a campaign "Give me a name!", to invite the public to decide the name of the future publication. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/dogadjaji_dana/clanak/art-2007,7,6,novi_medij,81281.jl Građani biraju ime novog dnevnog lista - Jutarnji.hr ] ] Hundreds of proposals were received after just 2 days [ [http://blog.novimedij.com/?p=54 Novi medij - Reakcije na biranje imena ] ] , and public voting will be held to choose the name.

Concept

Novi Medij's goal

The goal of the project, as stated by the authors, is to create a new popular medium in which all citizens could directly participate. The public will be invited to participate during the pre-production phase in order to determine how the future website and daily newspaper will look like. Once daily news production begins, citizens will be able to influence the content and contribute their own. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/dogadjaji_dana/clanak/art-2007,6,21,novi_medij,79442.jl Novi projekt EPH: Kreće 'Novi medij' čiji će sadržaj stvarati i čitatelji - Jutarnji.hr ] ]

Website before print

Novi Medij plans to develop its current blog into a beta-wiki portal, where all citizens could start writing their stories and suggest themes that should appear in the new paper. In addition, the public will be invited to comment and vote on the name, layout and content structure of the paper. Once the online community around the website grows, the print edition will be launched.

Criticism

Some criticism has appeared in Croatian online communities, claiming that the project is an utopian idea.

Launch

Though the exact launch date was not announced by the project team, they have indicated that the print version is likely to start place in November 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.novimedij.com Novi medij website]
* [http://blog.novimedij.com Novi medij blog]
* [http://www.jutarnji.hr Jutarnji.hr]