I ran into this post by Spike Gillespie, who I know a little bit through Austinist, earlier today. In it, she details some of the reasons why Austin Post, a new start-up media site in Austin dedicated to “citizen journalism” (yeah, those are scare quotes) is kinda crappy. The short answer is that it doesn’t pay its writers, further contributing to the idea that written words aren’t a thing worth paying for (but advertisements on sites that attract people by offering written words, clearly, are). Instead it offers its contributors exposure, which isn’t much of a commodity in a world in which writers aren’t supposed to expect to be paid for their work.

Except… Holy fuck. If you actually go to the site, the sad nature of people who are looking for exposure becomes really clear. But it ain’t gonna further the goal of “play[ing] a critical role in the democratic process…  help[ing] frame the conversation, and encourage informed debate and decision-making.” Hell, no, it’s not. Instead of smart writers and citizen journalists working to inform one another about what’s happening in their comunity, you get this:

• Austin Luxury Neighborhood Spanish Oaks, a piece of citizen journalism by a citizen journalist/real estate agent named Sam Chapman, about how you should buy a house in Spanish Oaks from Sam Chapman.
• wantANDfound created to connect Austinites to local deals, a citizen journalism article by a citizen journalist/networking consultant named Scott Ingram, in which readers are informed that their community has a new listings site that they can sign up for. (Don’t forget to mention that you were referred by Scott Ingram’s company!)
• Belvederes Barber Lounge, in which citizen journalist/”social networking expert” Thom Singer crafts a piece of citizen journalism to offer to his community the opportunity to hire Thom Singer for a keynote speech, as well as to get their haircuts at the same place Thom Singer does.

Do you get where this is going? You also get a never-ending series from some local funk band called Achachay about what it’s like to be in Achachay, a sub-100 word post from the girl in the Reid’s Cleaners commercial that ends in a redirect to her own blog, and a bunch of citizen journalism articles about how awesome CrossFit Gym is from a trainer at CrossFit Gym.

Yow. Check it out, dudes. This is what’s gonna replace the newspapers. Articles written by a lady who’ll come to your house and clean out your fridge for seventy-five dollars an hour about how she’ll come to your house and clean out your fridge for seventy-five dollars an hour.  Citizen journalism is gonna rule.