Hello,
I am a freelance journalist of European news agency , I am representative of Middle east,Asia and India,, I saw your profile , I wanted to drop some words of introduction that may be in future we could be helpfull eachother in any project of journalism?,,,,so have a good time in journalism.regards.murad

Many thanks, it will be brilliant if the EC sees media and journalists as a focus for their SME work for a number of reasons, I hope to write more about that, but today we have many distribution channels without obligatory having new models for content commissions and distribution, which are needed to represent journalists better as media and social entreprenuers. Rumy Vakarelska

More answers, Kathlyn:

What do you think motivates your new contributors to work without being paid? I'm really curious in what motivates people to work for free online. Not that there's anything wrong with doing so, just that it is to me an interesting phenomenon - people adding videos to CNN's iReport for example.

This is an interesting question. After all, why work for free? Well, there are some valid reasons. My site is reasonably visible, and gets mentions from some major publications. If you are a writer, or would like to be one, or have a business, then being associated with a reasonably good quality site can have interesting collateral effects - in terms of job offers and consultancy (which I do). Running a blog well takes lots of time - it's just like building up any business really, but once it is going in the right direction, the shine can rub off. Perhaps someone would like to have a blog, and they do not get paid for it, but do not have the time or technical know-how to do what they need to do. The next best thing is to use the weight of an established site like mine. The www is a fabulous place for networking, and getting you name somewhere prominent can lead to some very interesting opportunities (I know about this too!).

To cut a long story short, while you may not earn from writing, you can earn in other ways, and even make money.

"Very cool that you're featured on Global Post, as well. I think Global Post is doing a great job of drawing out good quality international reporting."

I like the Global Post site and what it is trying to do a lot, and I was very happy to have been selected as one of their featured blogs. The Global Post thing demonstrates quite clearly that 'content is king'. There is room for good content, although finding it on the www is not easy.

There, I hope that answers your questions, but if you have more, fire away.

Best,

Alex

Sorry, I did not see the rest in the mail notification - some more for you:

What prompted you to start this site?
First of all, I like writing, and ages ago people used to say I had a good way putting things. Then, there is the fact that Italy is an interesting, if complex, and controversial, place, and writing about it helps me, and possibly others, to understand what the country is all about. I also have an altruistic motive, which is to try to change Italy from the outside in - as Italy does seem to be able to change itself from the inside out, and I feel that Italy does not really appreciate its own huge set of assets. The country also has problems, and if enough attention is generated, some naval gazing is bound to take place, or the head-in-sand effect might kick in!

I also wanted to showcase various aspects of Italy which don't, perhaps, receive much attention, and to do something more than a travel to Italy type site - there are zillions of them, anyway, and one more would have just added to the noise.

I'll answer your other question shortly.

Alex

This is where details of my hunt for young Italian journalists can be found: http://www.blogfromitaly.com/jobs/

If you know anybody who might feel writing for my site could do them some good, please send them my way, Kathlyn.

Alex

Hi Kathlyn,

Thanks for the welcome and for inviting me to join!

My approach is working OK - BlogfromItaly.com does not get huge amounts of traffic, which is the only way, really, it can become self-supporting, and that I'll be afford to pay people to write for it - which is what I would like.

I've been trying to use the site as a way of giving young Italian journalists a sort of helping hand. The catch is that they have to be able to write very well in English. Still, I've got one Italian writer, so far.

As a result of appealing for, unpaid, writers, I've also ended up with a UK based designer of Italian origins writing about Italian design, as well as an Icelandic guy writing about the Italian Indie music scene.

Aside from the journalistic aspects, I also use the blog to give certain aspects of Italy a little more visibility. This is, I suppose, a form of marketing, but then any company or person who gets a mention in a newspaper, magazine or from a website, benefits from raised visibility. Being written about does enhance reputations, and, let's face it, generate business.

I also like they way people can interact on blogs, ask questions, and, if they want, put me right.

Blogs are evolving, and some are becoming closer to magazines than perhaps to newspapers. And bloggers are not dissimilar to newspaper columnists who have always expressed opinions on current issues.

Evolution is always an interesting process, I feel.

Best,

Alex