We hope BaseNews.com becomes the vehicle by which members of the military community can inform the news media and the world about the issues that matter most to them.
Washington, DC (Vocus) February 26, 2009
The Washington Times is launching a groundbreaking Web site powered by a network of citizen journalists to cover news on military bases around the world. BaseNews.com will debut this spring and provide dispatches from the front lines about the stories that matter most to the military community.
BaseNews.com Editor Grace Vuoto said the goal of the new Web site, "Will be to give a voice to those in and around military bases who long have felt the traditional news media doesn't cover the issues that matter most to them or accurately report what is happening within their communities."
Each citizen journalist will be trained and held to a set of standards for filing news stories to the site. Some of the best reporting from BaseNews.com will on occasion be republished inside The Times' print edition.
In addition to the daily happenings on military bases, BaseNews.com will also aim to provide a window into America's most dangerous military operations around the world - especially the "hot spots" in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan - as well as inform Americans on how their defense dollars are being spent.
The site will offer original stories, featured videos, Web chats with national figures and blog postings. "In response to reader and viewer feedback, BaseNews.com will provide news and information produced by and for America's military community," Vuoto said. "We hope BaseNews.com becomes the vehicle by which members of the military community can inform the news media and the world about the issues that matter most to them."
The project was announced today at the We Media conference in Miami.
John Solomon, executive editor of The Washington Times, said BaseNews.com will launch later this spring after citizen journalists are trained. "The Internet has taught us that newsworthy information can come from all walks of life and can be delivered responsibly in mediums that augment traditional news sources," Solomon said. "The goal of BaseNews.com is to train and deploy an army of citizen journalists who will produce stories with the same high standards as The Washington Times newspaper but from the vantage points and locations that our industry often can't reach."
About The Washington Times
The Washington Times LLC is a multimedia company in the nation's capital that publishes The Washington Times, a full-service, general interest daily newspaper and other media products. Founded in 1982, The Washington Times is one of the most-often-quoted newspapers in the U.S. with a reputation for hard-hitting investigative reporting and thorough coverage of politics, policy and culture. The washingtontimes.com web site includes all of the original content from the daily printed newspaper plus original content produced for online users in print, audio, visual and interactive formats, and is one of the leading newspaper web sites in the country.
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