Dan Gillmor, (left) one of the technology industry's most influential columnists, is leaving his paper, the San Jose Mercury News.
“I hope to pull together something useful that helps enable — and demonstrates — the emerging grassroots journalism that I wrote about in my recent book,” Gillmor writes at his blog. “Something powerful is happening, it's in the early stages and I have a chance to help figure this out. I'm not ready to discuss the specifics yet, mainly because I have many more ideas than I could possibly try to put into practice at this point — and we're early in the process of working out the venture's actual form.
“I hate the idea of leaving. But I'd hate not trying this even more.”
Some reaction: “This is a big deal. Dan is one of the most respected journalists around, a man of perfect integrity and great vision. And guts. Something exciting is in the wind,” says David Weinberger.