Welcome to HartsvilleToday

HartsvilleToday is a community gathering place so that you can share your news, your stories and your pictures with your Hartsville neighbors. It is free and was created by The Messenger and the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Funding was provided by J-Lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism.

This is your site, and it puts Hartsville at the forefront of an exciting change in journalism. Now, we've avoided using that word, "journalism," a lot because, well, it gets in the way. People think you have to be somehow different to be "a journalist." And so some folks think "I can't do that." We like to call ourselves community storytellers.

You don't need a journalism degree to write a good letter to your friends or have a good conversation with your family, do you? So don't worry about it. Just write. Oh sure, remember to tell us the whole story -- the who, what, when, where, why and how -- but don't worry about that "J" thing.

One thing we really hope you'll do is, if you go to a movie or a play, or see a band, write a review for your friends and neighbors. From time to time we'll talk about what makes a good story, how to "link" across the Internet to bolster your stories, and how you can use things like picture phones to help tell your stories. And if you don't want to write, we have space for photos, too. Remember, a photo can be worth a thousand words!

Here are a few other questions that come up:

This is one of those scam sites, isn't it?
No. We ask you to register with certain information because this is partly a research project under the auspices of USC. This information is kept confidential and is aggregated so that if it is used in any report, no one can be individually identified. (Although you should know that if a court tells us we have to reveal it, we must comply.) We ask for some contact information so we can reach you if you are having trouble with your account or if there's a question about something you write. After all, yours may be the first word on an important story the Messenger staff needs to follow. We also ask about your age because no one younger than 13 is allowed to post (it's a legal thing). We regret some people won't register, but we think in the end we'll have a better site that reflects Hartsville more accurately.

What does it cost?
Nothing to view or contribute. When you sign on, you get the ability to post to any of the topics. the photo areas and any of the other features of the site with public access. The Messenger staff will also write in from time to time with news you normally wouldn't get until the paper came out. So it's a good place to check daily.

I have to do this every day, right?
Nope. If once a week or once a month works for you, that's fine. But don't be surprised if your neighbors want to hear more. This is an electronic version of that refrigerator door on which you have all that important stuff. When you feel like hanging something on the fridge, tell us, too.

So how do I get going?
Just click here to set up an account, sign up and start writing.

If you have questions, contact Doug Fisher at the university.

"Citizen Journalism" is the idea that every one of us has great stories, observations and information, and that we become a richer community when everyone has the chance to be heard. Traditional newspapers and broadcasters are important, but they can't do it all; they have limited staffs and limited time and space.

Many worthy stories go untold. So through sites like HartsvilleToday, we get a chance to discover stories we might not otherwise know -- stories that can help us with our lives, give us new insight into where we live, or just bring smiles to our faces.

Citizen journalism sites have sprung up around the nation, like BlufftonToday, one of the orignals, also in South Carolina. Some of the other well-known ones are Westport Now in Connecticut, MinnPost in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Voice of San Diego.

If you'd like to know more: Jonathan Dube keeps a list of citizen journalism sites. It's interesting to watch it grow.

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