Building a Network of “Ethnic Citizen Journalists”

Six Los Angeles media outlets united this week to form LA Beez–a platform built to create the “first-ever online network of ethnic citizen journalists.”

Supported by Arab American, Asian American and Latino publications, the project aims to involve new communities in the struggling world of print publications. It’s a model that publishers could follow when reaching out to local communities with new books. As book review outlets dry up, these new kinds of sites will become more important.

Here are some remarkable California stats from MediaShift Lab: “1–Nearly 8 million Latinos in California (approximately 60% of the total) do not have a computer and Internet at home. 2–At the same time, more than 80% of Latinos in California own a cell phone.”

On a related note, one GalleyCat editor will be visiting Los Angeles for the New Year’s holiday. If you have any literary events or publishing-related projects in LA, email GalleyCat the details.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.