Dan Gillmor & Grassroots Media Launch 1st Project

Dan Gillmor announces the birth of Bayosphere -- the first project of his startup, Grassroots Media Inc. Just as Cortez burned his ships upon reaching the new world, Dan appears to have abandoned his typepad blog, for a new drupal-powered blog that is within Bayosphere. Though Bayosphere is still in the "pre-launch" phase, I'm already seeing some encouraging signs. So far, Dan seems to not see his role as a leader, in the sense of him setting the direction, creating organizational structures, or setting up long lists of rules. Dan writes:

...I'll be one of many voices, including yours. I'm a host here, not The Editor. Communities have values; we'll have the kind that make this a place we want to share with visitors and each other.

Its a forgone conclusion that this experiment will be watched very closely by those who are hoping to capitilize on emergent journalism. I'm still not entirely convinced that citizen journalism will ever be able to operate on a for-profit model. Nevertheless, if anyone can succeed at this, its Gillmor. Its not that Dan has any special powers, or secret knowledge; rather, Dan simply has the rare skill of knowning how to listen. Unlike most of these startups, Dan is not creating an organization, and inviting people to participate. Rather, Dan appears to be inviting people to create an organization, and is offering resources to help make it happen. I cannot reiterate how encouraging of a sign that is. As the Dean campaign learned, the easiest path to power on the internet is, ironically, to give it up.

I wish Dan and Bayosphere best of luck. I'll be them watching their progress very closely.