Dan Gillmor at Berkman Center

The Berkman Center announces the appointment of Dan Gillmor as Berkman Research Fellow. Gillmor is the author of "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People" (O'Reilly Media, 2004), a book that explains the rise of citizens' media and why it matters, and more recently has been working at projects aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach.

Gillmor's focus at Berkman will a new project that he discusses on his blog:

"I'm starting a nonprofit Center for Citizen Media. The main focus will
be studying, encouraging and enabling the emergent grassroots media sphere, with a major focus on citizen journalism.... My major goal is simple. I believe we need a thriving media and journalism ecosystem. We need what big institutions do so well, but we also need the bottom-up -- or, more accurately, edge-in -- knowledge and ideas of what I've called the "former audience" that has become a vital part of the system. I'm also anxious to see that it's done honorably and in a way that helps foster a truly informed citizenry."

As part of his fellowship Gillmor will visit the Berkman Center
regularly, holding meetings and engaging students in his research
efforts. In conjunction with his Berkman fellowship, Gillmor will also
teach a course at the University of California-Berkeley's Graduate
School of Journalism, promoting substantive collaboration between the two institutions and their communities.

We look forward to having Gillmor here at the Berkman Center, and
exploring the future and direction of citizens media together.

The photo was taken by Elisabeth Fall for O'Reilly Media.