About
See information on OhmyNews Korea below. Submit a story, question, or comment on the Contact page. We read them all.
What is OhmyNews International?
We are a small team based at OhmyNews in Seoul, South Korea. We are international journalists. We know technology, and we are curious about the global progress of citizen journalism. And we adore coffee always.
From our perch at OhmyNews, we have first-hand access and experience in citizen journalism. A decade since its pioneering start in 2000, OhmyNews receives 150 stories each day from 62,000 citizen contributors. The citizen journalism organization employs 70 full-time editors and reporters.
OhmyNews International (OMNI) is the barometer for citizen journalism. In a Venn diagram between participatory media and news, OMNI makes the grey space its home. Grassroots journalism, citizen media, crowdsourcing are all related terms that tackle the same question: How are regular people making and changing the news?
Where are you?
We are based in Seoul, South Korea, where the technological revolution started a decade ago. GPS trackers for buses, cell phones with television access and the latest wireless networks are commonplace here. We intend to share our observations on the speedy development.
What is your purpose?
A one-stop shop for all things citizen journalism did not exist. This was a hole in the conversation about media and the Internet, and our position at OhmyNews means we are the best people to fill it. We see citizen journalism as a way to promote important subjects like free speech, identity, and privacy. And so, we want to offer a place to gauge the present and decide its future.
How does it work?
We have a growing team of curators. They work hard to publish news, issues, tools and tips for citizen journalists.
What makes you different from other citizen journalism sites?
OhmyNews was one of the first citizen journalism organizations in the world, and many have been born since, which is a wondrous phenomenon. We aren’t competing with these outlets. We hope to enhance and create a grand community of citizen journalists, which are crucial for democracies to work, even in places where democracy doesn’t exist.
At OMNI we aren’t reporting the news itself. We report on how news affects citizen journalism.
Do you produce original content?
OMNI is different from the original OhmyNews outfit by concentrating more on commentary on citizen journalism and its role in democracy. We source news from other established citizen journalism organizations, but we will occasionally produce original stories.
Can I submit a story?
We only produce original stories under special circumstances. This is not a hard news site but rather a discussion of the state of citizen journalism in the world. We recommend you first try to submit your story to your local citizen journalism source or your own blog and then tell us about it with a link. We do accept stories if no other outlet is available. Keep in mind that we are very stringent about sources and fact checking.
What are curators?
Curators use their sources to find news about citizen journalism and bring it to OMNI. Each curator is a specialist in a certain subject or region. They are entrusted to find credible sources and put them together in a logical fashion for our readers.
How do you choose curators?
Curators are important to our operation. They are given a great deal of trust. In order to maintain credibility amongst our team members, new curators come join through recommendations of existing curators. And even amongst the curators we have different levels depending on their experience and contributions. This is to maintain a steady level of quality and credibility with our readers.
What are the advantages of being a curator?
Being a curator helps build credibility. Each post is credited to the curator, which links back to her site. This helps to gain recognition not only by readers but by search engines as well. Curators’ contributions and experience can build. With a certain amount of credibility, curators can get promoted to other duties, such as editing and choosing what goes on the front page.
Are you in any other languages?
As of now, OMNI is only in English.
FAQ produced by Joe McPherson, Andrew Gruen and Carrie Porter
OhmyNews Korea
OhmyNews is Koreaʼs premier Internet-based news organization. As noted in this New York Times article, OMN is a pioneer of Internet news business models. When it began on February 22, 2000, it was one of the first citizen journalism web sites in the world. It has remained one of the most successful.
By the numbers:
- In addition to stories submitted by more than 63,300 citizen reporters around the world, OhmyNews has 70 staff members.
- In its first decade, these citizens submitted more than 426,500 articles; about 150 stories per day.
- By traffic in Korea, OhmyNews ranks first amongst all independent internet news websites.
- More than 2 million unique users visit the site each day, resulting in more than 2.5 million page views.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
