Bleacher Report and CBS Sports Bring Citizen Journalism Into the Mainstream

People have been predicting it for a while, but finally the blogosphere looks set to merge with traditional media…

B/R and CBS: An interesting new opportunity for online journalism

Two of America’s biggest providers of online sports journalism have joined forces to create a new opportunity that promises to catapult ‘fan-journalism’ into the spotlight.

Bleacher Report, the self-styled ‘open-source sports network’ has announced a partnership with CBSSports.com that will run concurrently with the 2009 NFL season. 32 writers from Bleacher Report’s vast catalogue of amateur sportswriters will be chosen for the opportunity, one for each of the NFL’s franchises.

“This blending of traditional journalism with sports citizen reporting is totally unprecedented—especially on this scale,” said Zander Freund, co-founder and Community General Manager for Bleacher Report. “The combination of CBSSports.com’s impeccable editorial standards and deep ties to the NFL with Bleacher Report’s rich and prolific network of writing talent will result in unparalleled live coverage of NFL teams on a local level.”