Why ReadMe?

They don’t call it “Net speed” for nothing. In a medium that moves so fast it sometimes leaves the morning paper scrambling to catch up, a medium where the lifetime of some webzines is about as long as a housefly’s, ReadMe chronicles Web history as it happens.

We can’t afford to wait until scholars and experts sort everything out. Writing this “first rough draft of history” (Ben Bradlee) from the frontlines of the digital revolution are those who will one day play a major role in shaping Web media: today's students of online journalism.

For us, ReadMe provides an opportunity to learn the craft of digital journalism by doing it. ReadMe takes advantage of the Web’s status as the only mass medium with low barriers to entry, in terms of start-up money and technical expertise. ReadMe enables student journalists to experiment with a radical new model that thrives on interactivity, blurring the line between writer and reader in a way that traditional media do not. Ours is a generation that gets more and more of its news from a computer screen. Fittingly, the computer has affected the way we do journalism. We conduct interviews in online forums or through e-mail, use search engines and databases to research stories. Of course, with such powerful tools comes increased responsibility. Online, idle rumors spread with viral speed, and it's often difficult to tell fact from fabrication.

Of course, the Internet is more than just a news medium or the Mother of All Reference Libraries; it is its own world, with its own culture. “Netizens” strike up relationships online, hold protests, and defend their rights to free speech, all at Net speed. This new culture demands a new kind of journalism. ReadMe is a step in that direction.

— Nuno Andrade, managing editor, ReadMe 2.0

What They're Saying About Us

"Fine site…[T]he reporting is solid, the writing is bright and the story selections (and the site mission) excellent."

— Roland De Wolk, professor of online journalism, author Introduction To Online Journalism, and executive producer of NewsPort

"Great job."

— Ben Silverman, editor, DotcomScoop.com

"I have liked (almost) everything I have seen. […] Any site that features one of my former students on the front page can't be all bad <grin>."

— Sreenath Sreenivasan, Columbia University journalism professor, administrator of the online journalism awards, and WABC-TV's "tech guru"

Submissions

ReadMe is a student webzine, produced by students in the Department of Journalism at New York University. It is refreshed irregularly, several times a semester. ReadMe does not accept submissions, although we welcome reader feedback via the "Comment" feature at the end of every article or through our general e-mailbox.