Hello
It’s been a little over one year since we launched NewAssignment.Net. In that time we have organized three major projects in networked journalism, two lab projects, helped organize one conference and have even more ideas that we hope to act on.

NewAssignment.Net is not a company, but an extended research project and we thank you for all your support and ask that you continue to add what you can to our collective braintrust.

In case you missed out here’s a brief recap of what happened in 07 and a hint at things to come in 08.

BeatBlogging.org: Our newest project! We wrangled thirteen news organizations who each donated a reporter towards this project. They will each use the internet to build an online network of sources that will support and inform their reporting around a specific beat. To follow, join or learn from the reporters and how they approach reporting alongside a smart mob, check out the blog.

OffTheBus.Net: Our project in collaboration with the HuffingtonPost to cover the 08 campaign with a new angle. This isn’t about journalists covering the candidates from within the structure of mainstream media. Instead, this election coverage is about how the campaign sweeps into and effects our lives, from the view of citizens.

ReadableLaws.com: Our most recent lab project. A wiki to turn legalese into plain English. If this idea sounds intriguing - check it out.

Assignment Zero: Our first experiment in collaboration with Wired. We covered the topic of “crowdsourcing” gathering 80 interviews and 10 feature length stories. Although it was not the wildest of success stories it is still being discussed in journalism communities as pushing the boundaries in citizen journalism.

Polling Place Photo Project: A quick lab where people around the country documented what their polling place looked like on Super Tuesday. We tried it over a year ago and now the New York Times has picked up where we left off.

Networked Journalism Summit: Although not a Newassignment.net project, this conference, which brought maintream and indy media organizations together was co-organized by our own David Cohn.

What to expect in the coming year

* Beat Blogging will continue to break ground in the emerging art of networked reporting. If you are a reporter that is working on similar projects, please contact us.
* Get alternative coverage of the 08 campaign from OffTheBus.Net. Or join our team which is covering the campaign.
* More lab projects: We aim to do small quicker examples of networked reporting either organized at NewAssignment.net or with other news organizations willing to experiment. We already have our next lab project lined up. We will help the growing citizen journalism network Broowaha.com build the capacity to work on group projects - these will be like Assignment Zero, but quicker and on lighter topics.
* We hope to create software that will let other news organizations tap into the power of their readership.
* Whatever we think will push the boundaries of open platform journalism.

We continue to push forward and with your help, we hope to break new ground. If you want to get involved in any of the projects noted above, contact david cohn.

Continue to check in at http://www.newassignment.net for the latest.