Anousheh Ansari, the first woman space tourist is among a handful to ever blog from space - yes, astronauts have been doing it for ages. Ever since boarding her shuttle flight for the ISS in near Earth orbit, Anousheh has been sharing her thoughts and her Space Explorer  Flickr photo stream with the world. Describing everything from the initial take off to making fun of "space fashion" she is at once technical and also a like a child on a wonderous journey. 

Andy Warhol, the icon of pop culture make headlines in 1968 (that continue even today) about everyone enjoying fifteen minutes of fame. Inspired by that,  the 15 x 15 project by the Hull School of Art in London England invites videobloggers from around the world to contribute cellphone created clips for inclusion and eventual electronic distribution. It's a great opportunity to partake in a new media project with real artistic roots.

As the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon grows into its third week, the internet is brimming with amateur photos and videos of events as they unfold. Citizen journalism shines in a war torn environment giving people raw and uncencored information like never before. Despite risks and lack of credibility, content like this can help share experiences and foster dialogue and make up for much of what mainstream media seems to have forgotten about.

Citizen journalism is supposed to be a healthy thing right? Real people, real events and realtime reporting. Yet police in Philadelphia briefly arrested Neftaly Creuz for photographing the arrest of an alledged drug dealer with his cellphone calling it "obstruction of justice." According to family members, the 21 year old college student never left his property or was ever within arms reach of the "boys in blue." 

CellJournalist follows the Scoopt and SpyMedia model of marketing citizen media to traditional news agencies. Anyone with a cameraphone can participate and generate revenue along the way.  Registration is free and quick for budding photo journalists but the essential question of such agencies having a viable business model remain. Regardless, "if its important to you then send it in."

The 2006 O2 Wireless Music Festival being held NOW in London's Hyde Park features an amazing lineup including Belle and Sebastian, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Goldfrapp to name just a few but more than music it's a citizen media extravaganza. O2 has partnered with Mobile Image Group (MIG) to bring phone based interactive billboards, video blogging and backstage reporting for attendees.

Jay Rosen from NYU led the second discussion at BloggerCon focusing on the role of  citizen media especially how to involve more peope in a professional manner that traditional media giants will respect  and where the lines between personal and professional reporting blur. Blogging is a viable media source but it needs discipline and strategy to become professional reporting. And yes, there's also a Dan Rather connection to all of this.

Ever wanted to get daily photo news stories and interesting feature stories delivered to your mobile device? Ever wanted to share photos with your friends and family without paying huge MMS charges? Share device to device without having to go through a web-site? Well with WpN Mobile for Windows smartphones and Pocket PC's you can do the above and even generate revenue for any sold or syndicated content.

Will so-called 'citizen journalism' turn out to be a global phenomenon or will it only flourish in certain countries? This issue was raised at the We Media Conference in London which honed in on Asia, where citizen media is flourishing, sometimes under restrictive regimes. But although the public perception of bloggers in China, for instance, are of lone voices under the jack-boot of a totalitarian regime, it seemed the dominant consumption of online media there is for entertainment, not politics.