Open publishing

From ArticleWorld

Open publishing is a system that allows anyone to create his or her own news content on the web. It is based on the ideal of media transparency. On an open publishing website, a person can write an article and upload it instantly to a news page with little or no editorial oversight or censorship. Others can then comment on and criticize the article. The writer, or others, can usually make changes or corrections. In cases where site managers do remove, censor or modify an article, they are generally required to provide a transparent account of their reasons for this. Usually, the reasons must be based on an already-established code of journalistic conduct for the particular open publishing news outlet.

Reasons for Open publishing

It is hoped by these news and other content sites that the public will participate in the media and in the establishment of public knowledge, using their sites as a forum to report the news. Because of this, open source publishing sites tend to have a lack of a command chain or editorial control, as well as a spirit of transparency and accessibility to the public.

Supporters of open-source publishing also see their method as encouraging a balanced reporting of the news. Because a large community can not only read, but comment on, criticize and even edit the articles on open publishing web sites, it is believed by some that stories on such sites are subject to a more democratic—and therefore less biased—editorial system. If many people review an article, then low quality, bias or inaccuracy are less likely to be overlooked.

The software used for open publishing is usually also public and open source. This software can be used on another site or modified to suit the purposes of a particular open publishing community. It is generally preferred by the open publishing community that those who borrow software from an open publishing site use it for the same or a similar purpose.