OffTheBus has gotten quite a bit of attention for the work of its citizen journalist contributors. This past week we expanded the definition of the term, at least for us here at OffTheBus, by including among our staff eight citizen-journalism editors! Nearly all of the OpEd posts on OffTheBus this week and last have been edited and proofed by this team, taking turns working day and night shifts from their spots around the country.

The team is diverse and includes filmmakers, journalists, teachers, university students, a former film-industry flack and at least one Army reporter. They have written short posts introducing themselves that we’ll be including tonight in a feature on OffTheBus. All of them to various degrees have been contributors to the OTB project and are interested in seeing the evolution of a new kind of more responsive journalism. As Editor Beth Morrissey put it in her introduction: “I have followed the candidates through battleground states … and what surprised me most was how traditional media chose to cover the exact same stories [about the candidates and the campaigns] in the exact same ways… Some of the most exciting stories this election story have been broken by citizen journalists.”

The OTB project works at its best when we draw most on the various talents of our community members. So who are these new editor community members? Maybe you’ve received an email from one of them this week about a story you wrote. Beth Morrissey is an associate producer for Purple States TV and is producing a documentary called “What’s Organic About “Organic?” She’s a new resident of New Haven, an aspiring rock climber, and an ultimate frisbee player. Chris Nelsonis staff writer for popandpolitics.com and a journalism graduate student at USC. He grew up in Cairo, Egypt. Jane Wylen
worked as a New York State policy analyst in criminal justice before moving to the beach in Florida, where she became a copy editor and librarian and got serious about seaside activities such as kayaking and biking. James Freedman is a contributing editor to The Johns Hopkins News-Letterand is applying to
law schools. Jennifer Bogutis a computer geek by profession and a writer-musician-armchair talking head for “fun.” She loves g-chat and lives in New Jersey. R.T. Eby has worked at a host of local newspapers but has also worked in the carnival business and recently retired from a career in commercial kitchens. He lives in northern Tennessee near the Kentucky border where he has a house on two acres. Ruth Ferguson lives in Dallas and is the editor of the North Dallas Gazette, which focuses on issues and events of interest to the African American community in the Metroplex. She’s a former film critic and an information junkie. Kevin Sinclair, a native New Yorker, lives in Nova Scotia
where he edits the rural lifestyle journal Maritime Almanac. A University of Kentucky Law School alumnus, he was an executive editor with RIA Group, and Aspen Publishing, working on reference books and journals for their law and taxation divisions. A citizen of both the United States and Canada, he
has an avid (some would say, obsessive) interest in American politics. Just as few could have guessed the way our contributors are breaking stories and influencing the narrative of the campaign, there’s
no telling how the experience and practice of our editors will translate to content. They are already coming up with great ideas about new forms of opinion writing and commentary.

One of the many benefits the site will reap from the new team is the ability to post more material and to do it faster. So, we will also be looking to expand our pool of writers. Now is a good time to
contribute.

Send your op-ed, plus bio and a headshot to campaigntrail@huffingtonpost.com
(If you’ve already published, you don’t need the bio/headshot)

Need to brainstorm? Send an email to campaigntrail@huffingtonpost.com with
“oped idea” in the subject line.

Best,
John, Amanda, and Marc
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-the-bus/