There's a thread taking place on the BM tribe and the main message of it I do not want to detract from and that is getting out (and hopefully receiving) information about the whereabouts of Elias Sorokin a Los Angeles burner who's gone missing for the past 8 days so I won’t comment there. Sorokin’s whereabouts are a huge concern to his family and friends here in Los Angeles. My prayers are with him and his family and I hope we hear positive news soon.

But the issue that arose since it was posted on Tribe needs to be addressed: I've been accused (and since then have been in contact with the person and clarified things) about my motives for complaining about how mainstream media picked up this story from my blog but failed to cite me as a source. So let me explain.

Since its very inception my work on BURNcast has been about truth and facts. (OK...sometimes it's just pure entertainment like when I do stories on "playa rumors" but I try never let you think my playa rumors are real.) Many may recall the bitchfest I had here on Tribe in 2005 that gave birth to BURNcast when I got my panties in a bunch about a reality television show coming to Burning Man that year. I'd rather not digress but there it is.

My disappointment is not my little blog post about Sorokin. It's nothing I wrote personally. I was just passing forward the information about him originally posted Facebook by a concerned friend/business partner and his mother to our socially networked community. But it’s important to understand that I cited my source of the person who originally wrote the piece.

I think it’s amazing how social media works to help people like Sorokin and others to get important news out to a group of concerned people so that maybe we can piece together some clues and support each other to hopefully bring him home. Just like Hollis Hawthorne's story, I use my blog to help bring attention to these individual's plight. In Hollis' case there's now a few blogs, one from her friends and one from her family that chronicle her progress long after it stops being front page (or top of blog) news.

My main issue is not being cited as a source in the news outlets that picked up the story but was casually referred to as a “blog devoted to Burning Man”.

(Also, on a side note, last year I did election coverage and interviewed somebody on the street and posted it on YouTube. The next day a sound bite was taken from my video AND USED IN A LOCAL NEWS STORY. But again, I wasn’t cited as the videographer. I mean even photographers get credit in news stories! When I called the newsdesk they put me on hold and gave me the runaround and frankly, though I was really really pissed I also wanted to fight other fights in my life and this wasn't something I was going to die on. I still think it's fucked though.)

The apparent division between mainstream media and citizen journalism is of great concern. To me the truth is the truth, wherever it came from. I recently attended a panel discussion with another burner Curious Josh about Citizen Journalism in Social Media at the Social Media Club Los Angeles meet up. It's even worth checking out the story that FOX11 News did about it: www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/l...st_20090713 (This piece especially rang true to me when the FOX reporter made the comment to the LA Times reporter that citizen journalists are putting them out of a job.)

I hear the argument from both sides of the aisle: journos saying citizen journalism doesn't really compare to trained and skilled investigative reporting. But then I hear from respected bloggers they have no corporate agenda or message to protect. I think I see both sides of this.

But in defense of my blog post: I feel it was sloppy reporting not to cite me. But other than that, I don't really care. I think my coverage of Burning Man is really niche and in the grand scale of important world changing news stories it's really very small. Bigger global issues like Iran elections, global warming, etc. are at stake.

New media is breaking the barriers of entry so that anybody can produce content and report on newsworthy events and so when there is one, I cover it. To quote one Chris Tolles of Topix.com who spoke on that panel I mentioned earlier "Citizen journalism is the democratization of news. Freedom of the press only counts if you own one." Now with my blog and the tools I use for podcasting I in fact do. And even though I'm not a trained journo, I know enough to let people know where I got my information.

To the query about whether I was trying to build my audience on getting cited is not the case at all. In fact, I'm satisfied with the number of people who enjoy my blog and could care less how big my audience is. I mean I can’t monetize my work. I can’t get advertisers to support my efforts – it would be against the 10 principles. Also, Burning Man doesn’t pay me for being their #1 cheerleader and so to drive traffic to my site doesn’t benefit me. Oh, and for those of you wondering about my PayPal donations buttons on my site: the last time I received a donation was for $5.00 ten days ago on July 17 of which $0.45 was deducted by PayPal for processing fees. That said there’s no incentive to build a wider audience. I cover the art, culture and community of Burning Man because I love it and it’s fun.

However, what I think is worth tackling is upholding issues like truth no matter what the source be it professional or amateur. So I leave comments on the Santa Cruz and Mercury News websites to engage in dialogue. The promise of Web 2.0 (at least to me) was the conversation between content creator/news reporter and audience/reader/consumer.

Sorry if my writing is all over the place. I’d rather put a mic or camera in your face and ask you a bunch of questions. But I felt it was important to explain my position.

BURNcast #77 - Hobo Pie at Tumbleweed's Chuck Wagon

In this episode we circle up for a complete breakfast with delicious hobo pie and sweet playa stories at Tumbleweed's Chuck Wagon. Featured here are conversations Tumbleweed, Erin, and Tiptoe. There also several voice messages for Hollis Hawthorne.

Listen here: burncast.blogspot.com/2009/06...eds.html