State of Ground Report June 2012

State of GroundReport.com

GroundReport has come a long way since its founding in 2006, and the commitment to citizen journalism from around the world remains unwavering. Nevertheless, the site continues to grow and change to provide a sturdy platform for news and opinion writing.

GroundReport receives about 80,000 visitors every month from all regions of the world. A majority of the visitors come from the United States, with India, the United Kingdom and the Philippines taking second, third and fourth place respectively. Contributing to GroundReport are over 20,000 active users, again representing all regions of the world. These writers contribute approximately 500 unique articles each month. There are over 70 active publications. In these you can find subjects as wide-ranging as focus on certain regions, countries or even cities, to broader publications concerning sports or opinion.
In order to give our contributors opportunities to be seen and heard, GroundReport has unique contact with Google and Twitter. GroundReport articles are searchable on GoogleNews, allowing broad exposure for all contributors. Furthermore, all articles written by preferred reporters are automatically posted on GroundReport’s twitter feed. @GroundReport currently has over 1,600 followers, again providing wide exposure for its best contributors.
GoogleNews does not tolerate commercial links in articles coming from its partners, and likewise GroundReport only publishes articles of high quality. Accordingly, GroundReport has tightened its editorial controls over the content published therein. Publications may now only be created by preferred reporters and reporters approved by the editorial staff. Furthermore, GroundReport’s editors check every article by non-preferred reporters before publication on the website. As shown above, preferred reporters, those who have been chosen as the best contributors to the site by the editorial staff, enjoy certain privileges. Their articles and publications may skip the editorial queue, and their articles are automatically posted on GroundReport’s twitter feed.

In addition to preferred reporters, GroundReport recognizes the very best articles with its Recognition Awards. The GroundReport staff hand-picks the very best articles recently published. These articles are re-posted on the front page of GroundReport under the new Recognition Awards publication. Furthermore, through the generosity of anonymous donors, the winners of the awards win cash prizes for their exceptional contributions.

GroundReport thanks all the readers and contributors that make the site what it is. We will continue to provide an exceptional platform for citizen journalism and hyperlocal news from around the world. Look out in the future as we implement features to provide the very best experience and to maintain the high quality of articles published on GroundReport.