Introducing a new kind of journalism for a new era

I shouldn’t need to tell you that traditional print journalism, as we’ve known it, has been in trouble for quite some time. Newspapers are ceasing print publication at alarming rates and mass layoffs are announced daily. Magazines are not immune, either — in 2008, 566 magazines ceased publication, and 279 have folded thus far this year (Source: Craines New York). There are many people now finding themselves on unexpected journeys in this economy, whether they’re laid off writers and looking for work, or simply anyone deciding to chase a dream they’ve always had and starting a company of their own. Maybe you’re one of them.

For the past few months, I’ve been involved behind the scenes in a very exciting project that will change the face of journalism forever. It is called uwemp (a conglomeration of the words “you, we, me, empowered”), an open-source media company offering experience-based content in a new concept called “dialogue-based journalism.” Our writers provide feature and profile articles on people and organizations changing the world we live in today. All content focuses on experiences—challenges, setbacks and lessons learned—that have led to sustained success.

The best way to describe it is a social-network-meets-writing-community, where not only do writers have a chance at establishing a loyal readership and the potential to be published in major outlets, but the readers — no matter who you are, where you are on your journey, no matter what it is — get to decide what’s next when they’re finished with an article. Think of it as a magazine full of great stories from inspiring people, but interactive. If you read a story about somebody that you can identify with or just want to know more about them and/or their journey, you can request more information, ask specific questions to the profiled person, or even request that the person be interviewed on video. Really, the end of an article may be just the beginning of the inspiration.

Currently uwemp is recruiting top-quality feature and profile writers from diverse backgrounds for our community.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to profile incredible people with incredible stories, please read our submission guidelines and come on board!  While welcoming a wide range of content, uwemp focuses on high-quality submissions and rewards writers accordingly. With our proprietary writer-ranking system, uwemp promotes the most active and intriguing writers, based on contributing to the community, improving the community, and building a dedicated audience. The more you interact with the reader base and directly fulfill readers’ requests, the higher you will rank. Writers can work their way up to Managing Editor status within a specific topic area and get paid.

Of course, all members of the community are encouraged to contribute, one need not be a professional.

Some of our already published profiles include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Alan Mullaly, CEO of Ford, and some less-famous, yet still very inspiring people whose stories may hit closer to home, like this guy who started a software company, the cofounder of a brownie company now worth over $8 million, the CEO of a home-care company for the elderly, and the story of a Lebanese immigrant who started a restaurant, then launched a pita chip brand that’s already getting $1 m in revenue. These are just a few, and we have a few articles in the works right now that are so exciting I don’t even know if I’m allowed to talk about them yet.

Are you experienced? Are you looking for somebody that is?

uwemp also has an open forum called the Experience Bank, where you can connect and speak with other members based on areas of interest and where find yourself along your journey(s). Though uwemp mainly focuses on business and entrepreneurship as the basis of its content, we also have other areas and articles of interest in categories such as music, education, writing, politics, sports, etc. and have included those as categories in the Experience Bank, as well as organized by milestone.

So, for example, if I just had a great idea (or so I think) to start a singing midget telegram business and am unsure if I should go for it, I might want to start a topic under “The A-ha! Moment” or “The Jump,” and ask other community members if they’ve done anything similar, do you think this is a good idea or not, should I go for it, and if so, what should I keep in mind? The entire premise of uwemp is to be a destination and a resource to learn from each others’ experiences and get advice on whatever it is we’re working on, wherever we are in life.

The next few months are going to be very exciting for uwemp, as we have lined up some amazing interviews of some amazing people, plus some exciting partnerships to announce. I hope that you will come the join the uwemp family over at our main site, as well as follow us on Twitter and fan us on Facebook. You’ll probably find us elsewhere online, too, if you look hard enough.

I truly believe that our concept of dialogue based journalism is going to change the game, and I’m very passionate about this whole idea of a community based on learning from others’ direct experiences.  The best way to learn is from direct experience, but none of us can do it all, so the second best way is to learn from the experiences of other people, especially in a community format. If I didn’t believe in this, I wouldn’t have jumped on board as Senior Social Web Strategist.

What do you think? Will dialogue-based journalism become the new standard in feature and profile writing? Who would you like to see profiled on uwemp, and what would you ask them?