With great pleasure we present to you today a recent member of our Citizen journalism directory - Newzulu. All about this excellent platform, their inspiring work and plans you can find out in further lines.

Here is our interview with Newzulu Editor-in-Chief Mariana Keller.

Q: Newzulu - interesting name. Tell us more about it.

A: The name “Newzulu” was inspired by a number of factors. First, it refers to our ambition that Newzulu contributors act as a group of warriors of the news and truth in the media, being a play on the words News and Zulu. Second, in the context of the Zulu nation, the word “zulu” means “strength in numbers”, which again supports our view that crowd-sourced news offers unique perspectives of world events. Third, the name is a response to the need for breaking news to be reported on time, around the clock as British Army refers to “Zulu Time” as being Greenwich Mean Time or central time.

Q: What is Newzulu and how it works?

A: Newzulu is a 150 thousand-member community of freelance and citizen journalists from around the world who break the news and cover interesting and important stories around them. They submit photos and videos to us, which we verify and provide to our partner news wires, AFP, PA and AAP, who then make it available to thousands of news outlets. Whenever a photo or video is sold, we in turn split that revenue 50/50 with our contributors.

Q: How do you assess the news and what do you require of your contributors?

A: We accept any and all photos and videos that have news value to tell or illustrate a story. This can be a series about families of victims of flight MH370, a crazy flash mob, or images of migratory birds over a sunset in Bikaner, India.

We ask that our contributors only send us content that was created by them and that they own the copyrights to. We also ask that they provide us with as much information about the story: what happened, where and when. These are elements that help us do our research to confirm the story.

Q: What is your experience with citizen journalists regarding their credibility comparing to professional journalists?

A: Citizen journalists who are serious about their work are committed to telling the stories around them in the most ethical and transparent way possible. They understand that what they’re doing is important and that it means something, so they are professional about it. We have contributors who send us stories every day and have covered hundreds of stories. We haven’t had any issues regarding how images have been obtained. If we have any red flags regarding whether the content is real and original, we ask questions and we investigate. There have been instances where we had to reject stories because we had questions.

Q: Looking through your work, is it possible to mix citizen and traditional journalism successfully ?

A: We live in a period in history where millions of people can tell a story and reach a huge audience. The news doesn’t (only) come from a single paper copy of something that was written hours before, and that lands on your doorstep in the morning. It comes as a Twitpic on your phone, the instant it happens. The difference is being able to discern whether that content is a confirmed fact or a fake. This is where Newzulu comes in. News organizations have fewer resources to sort through the clutter and determine what’s real (and, often ignored, whether the person posting the content was the original creator of the content). They also can’t be everywhere at once. What we do is make sure that content has been thoroughly verified and is ready-to-go. We also bring to the table the large network of people in every part of the world who can provide stories that are new and fresh on-demand — and from a different perspective.

Q: Newzulu plans and goals?

A: We are growing our editorial team in key cities around the world to gather stories on a hyperlocal level. There are key areas where we have a very active contributor base, and others where there’s room to expand and grow.

Q: How do you see citizen journalism in the future.

I see citizen journalism as taking more and more of a role in the news making process — as media outlets (and brands) engage with their audience and see that you don’t need a robot or an entertainer to wrap the news up in a pretty bow. There will still always be room for traditional journalism, but I see journalists’ roles as becoming more and more that of editors who filter and sift and curate the content — and help determine what’s real and what’s not. They will also take more and more of an analytical role in the storytelling business, but we won’t go into that. The truth is, we journalists don’t own the news. The gatekeepers have been laid off and it really seems the fence is barely there anymore.

Our goal is to make people aware that breaking the news and telling interesting stories is something that anyone can participate in — and it can also have monetary value. It’s exciting to participate in a global community of engaged citizens who share a glimpse into the culture and news around them.

We would like to once again thank Mariana Keller for her time and wish Newzulu team all the best in their future work!