Journalists, get wired

Most reporters I know are not joiners by nature. There are not a lot of Rotarians in the newsroom.

Time to make an exception.

Wired Journalists is a social network for people in the news business, created by Ryan Sholin, Zac Echola and Howard Owens.

This is from the mission statement:

Our goal is to help journalists who have few resources on hand other than their own desire to make a difference and help journalism grow into its new 21st Century role.

You don’t need the best equipment, the biggest budget or even management support to accomplish worthy goals. The only requirement is a willingness to learn and a mind open to new ways of thinking about journalism.

We are here to help each other learn basic skills and learn how new technology and new societal expectations for media are changing journalism.

The site has already crossed the 1,000-member mark after just a couple of weeks, and members have started a number of helpful groups:

New to multimedia

Tools you can use

New to social networks

There’s even a group for employees of Advance newspapers.

Joining is easy, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a group of people more ready to lend a hand or help refine an idea.

If you do join, and I hope you will, please add me as a friend.