Members of theblogpaper write, rate and discuss the news and therefore “make the news”.
One major cornerstone of theblogpaper's the concept is that many people are in control of what people are going to receive (by promoting content to print). Instead of a few people controlling the majority of what is being published and therefore read, theblogpaper aims to put the majority in charge.

What is different about theblogpaper?

We aim to combine two different yet equally important types of media: internet and print. theblogpaper is generally speaking aiming to be a simple tool to make your voice heard, and to reach beyond the “limitations of the web” to different audiences / readers.

Members of theblogpaper are able to individually upload content (at the moment: articles, pictures, notes and discussions). The articles can be rated as well as discussed (via commenting) by the community of the web portal.

Rating and commenting defines promotion to print.

Content is promoted to the front page of theblogpaper website, to the specific category front pages as well as to the print magazine depending on how well the content is rated / commented on.

The community therefore defines content that is “worth” distributing to others, as well as content to be published in print and therefore what people are going to receive!

theblogpaper follows no political line other than democracy. We believe in the power of the community, rather than in the power of the individual. We believe that the “news-making” process and its attached viewpoints and opinions should be under the control of many rather than a few. In other words:
We publish whatever you post and recommend.

At the moment theblogpaper.co.uk is still running in beta mode, so please be kind changes in functionality will be added over time.

RULES:

Please read these rules carefully. If you choose to participate in theblogpaper you have to be aware of the following rules. Please note that you also fully agree to the Terms of Service!
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE RULES WE WILL IMMEDIATELY BLOCK YOUR ACCOUNT AND REMOVE ALL OF YOUR CONTENT! (Sorry, but we have to be strict on that…)

1. Do not upload material that promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual. You can talk about that in your local, but even there people probably won’t listen to you!
2. Do not steal content. Your work MUST BE ORIGINAL!
3. Do NOT SPAM! You know it's incredibly annoying. -
- Anything we may consider to be spam or (aggressive) promotion will be removed!

WE WILL REMOVE ANY PROMOTIONAL ARTICLES WITHOUT ANY FURTHER NOTICE!

4. All content has to be in English.
5. Not more than 1 Article per day! - Focus on quality rather than quantity.
IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE RULES WE WILL IMMEDIATELY BLOCK YOUR ACCOUNT AND REMOVE ALL OF YOUR CONTENT!
6. To be promoted to print your content item must have at least 5 votes (+100 reads) for now.

Please read the Terms of Service for details.

COPYRIGHTS:

By uploading content to theblogpaper.co.uk you grant us permission to publish your content on theblogpaper.co.uk and in theblogpaper (print). We will notify you prior to any print publication. If you find that somebody uploaded your content without your permission please contact us on copyright(at)theblogpaper(dot)co(dot)uk.

Please read the Terms of Service for details.

IMAGE REQUIREMENTS:

All images have to be .jpeg or .gif format ( minimum width: 540px 72dpi ) for best results! But keep the overall file size as small as possible to keep loading times for your content as low as possible.

Important: Once your images are promoted to theblogpaper, we will contact you to request high quality files suitable for print, e.g. 300dpi.

ALL POSTS THAT DO NOT FOLLOW THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY!

The Newspaper

What is the purpose of theblogpaper?

The aim is to publish a monthly and free newspaper in the city of London. It serves as a monthly summary of the “best” user submitted content. The difference to other free publications is that theblogpaper consists exclusively of user submitted content. Content is researched, written and contributed by members of the theblogpaper.co.uk. Furthermore the community decides what is promoted to the publication, defining first of all what content is worth printing and second of all, what people are going to receive.

Why a newspaper?

Our aim is to provide the opportunity to bloggers, citizen journalists, photographers and young journalists to reach new audiences. The purpose of the paper is to give a weekly overview of most important content which has been submitted by the community, and therefore to reflect the community's general perception of “valuable” content. It’s a summary of the content that has made the biggest impact on the community.

The content of the paper is edited following the hierarchical order of the categories views on the website, meaning politics first followed by business, environment, culture…etc.

We encourage our community to engage in healthy participation as well as discussion around the news-making process. We believe that the actual news-making process (i.e. writing/rating/discussing content), when constructed by the general public, (bloggers, students, young professionals, etc.) becomes naturally incredibly accurate, due to the fact that people who write about specific subjects tend to already know a great deal about it.

Our goal is to create a community which has complete control over every part of the news-making process (e.g. writing, rating, editing). The newspaper will therefore be a compilation of what the community (many people) filtered and found accurate, or worth sharing with others.
You have to be aware that by participating you fully agree to the Terms of Service of this community as well as the Privacy Policy.

Content Types

There are several different content types users may upload. We are currently working on new ways to expand the range of content types into new and specific areas. You are welcome to add your thoughts to existing content types as well as helping us to create the content types that you believe could be a good addition to the existing ones...
At the moment there are 4 different content types available to theblogpaper community...

Articles:

For this content type users may upload written content as well as adding pictures relating to the content of the article. We encourage our community to engage responsibly with theblogpaper, uploading well researched, truthful content as well as respecting copyrights and personal privacy.

Notes:

The purpose of notes is to “visually link” to an existing piece of content / site etc. So if you have found something interesting which you believe is worth sharing with the community, just post a note.

Photostories (Images/ Illustrations / Visuals):

Using the “photos“ tool on theblogpaper users may upload photos in addition to a short description for each individual image. If you have interesting photos (and own copyrights) which you believe could be of interest to others, feel free to upload.

Discussions:

Use this tool to start discussions about certain news topics and current events in your surroundings. Members of theblogpaper are able to leave comments on the discussion point you have created. We encourage our community to engage in critical yet constructive arguments.

Rating

Rating promotes content to print. So if you upload an article or publish some photos and the community likes your content, by rating it high (5 points = best rating | 1 point = worst rating) we will take your content and publish it in the weekly printed edition of theblogpaper.

We are aiming to give content creators (e.g. bloggers / young journalists / photographers, etc.) the opportunity to reach audiences beyond the limitations of the web and possibly reach readers who are not constantly up to date with the news online.

1. What is theblogpaper?

Our goal is to create a community which has complete control over every part of the news-making process (e.g. writing, rating, editing). The newspaper will therefore be a compilation of what the community (many people) filtered and found accurate, or worth sharing with others.
You have to be aware that by participating you fully agree to the Terms of Service of this community as well as the Privacy Policy.

2. How does theblogpaper work?/ Who creates content?

User submitted content (e.g. Articles) is promoted to the front pages and a printed version of theblogpaper depending on how well the content is rated and discussed (via commenting). theblogpaper community consists mostly of citizen journalists who are the creators of the news content. The advantage of having many writers in one community is that it makes the news diverse and broadens the range of opinions.

3. Who decides what will be promoted to category frontpages and the paper?

You decide. The community is responsible for the content which is promoted to the front pages as well as the paper. Every new Article can be found in the “latest articles” section. Users are able to filter the articles by category. Articles that receive high votes and are frequently discussed (via commenting) are promoted to category front pages, to the main front page and to theblogpaper itself. Unregistered users can therefore instantly receive valuable content recommended by the community.

4. The paper?

The newspaper consists entirely of user submitted content. The purpose of the paper is to give a weekly overview of the most important content submitted by the community, and therefore to reflect the community's general perception of “valuable” content. We’re aiming to launch the newspaper by the end of September in the city of London, UK.

5. Articles VS. Notes ?

A complete original article written by you can be submitted as an “Article”.
However, if you want to highlight or share some interesting content found on an external site with other members, you submit a “Note” – a visual reference to the piece of content.

6. What about comments?

Comments are an essential way to broaden someone’s opinion about a certain subject. Comments therefore not only play a significant part within the online community but are promoted to the paper as well! The main idea behind promoting comments to the paper is to encourage the community to engage in a healthy discussion around a certain subject / piece of content.