New Web sites to store public's digital content

Tapping into a growing interest in so-called grass-roots media, two Web sites launched this week that aim to become repositories and clearinghouses for a wide variety of digital content created by the public.

Ourmedia, started by Pleasanton writer J.D. Lasica and Walnut Creek technologist Marc Canter, is offering a central place for people to upload and store any digital media they want to share with the world, including video, audio, images and text files. The service is free.

The founders say their service could help content producers find new audiences for their work. And it could become a cultural archive for researchers and future generations of Internet users that want to view history through an alternative media lens, say Ourmedia's founders.

Grassroots media has enjoyed an explosion of interest in the past year, fueled by the increased credibility of bloggers and the growing popularity of video and audio tools such as camcorders and editing software.

Content is proliferating. A video blogging Internet discussion board -- which had only about 50 members in December -- now has about 5,500. On the audio side, a new trend called podcasting has spawned thousands of amateur Internet radio shows.

The organization eventually plans to release the source code of its Web site, potentially spawning an array of similar Web sites and media repositories, he said.

The group also is talking with companies such as Yahoo and Google about hosting media files on their own servers. It wants third-party developers to build their own interfaces to its content. And the group is exploring peer-to-peer technology that would allow Ourmedia to become a gateway to media files stored on individual personal computers.

Much of Ourmedia's vision is shared by another site called NowPublic (www.nowpublic.com) that launched this week. Based in Vancouver, B.C., the site allows everyday people to act as editors, reporters and photographers. A user submits ``assignments'' requesting information about a particular topic or event, and others upload video, photos or text to complete the story.

``It's not replacing regular media,'' founder Michael Tippett said. ``It's augmenting it. It's kind of a clearinghouse for news media.''