How do Communities Evaluate Quality?

The quality of any citizen journalism project reflects the contributions of those who choose to participate, and such projects can be havens for triviality or unreliable information (Educause Learning Initiative). Many users are inclined to trust material they find online, particularly if it is called "news." Subsequently, citizen journalism has the potential to implicitly validate content that might not be accurate, offensive, or lack credibility. Therefore it is important that consumers of citizen journalism should understand that however well intentioned a citizen journalist might be, reading the news with a skeptical eye is a good practice.