theblogpaper.co.uk is a news community which allows anyone to publish written and visual work online and in print. Rating and commenting, in other words the community, defines what is promoted to the front pages as well as to the printed version. theblogpaper aims to publish the first user-generated newspaper in London.

Members of theblogpaper write, rate and discuss the news and therefore “make the news”.
One major cornerstone of theblogpaper's 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 will be 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.
3. Do not spam! You know it's incredibly annoying.
4. All content has to be in English.

IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE RULES WE WILL IMMEDIATELY BLOCK YOUR ACCOUNT AND REMOVE ALL OF YOUR CONTENT!

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 weekly and free newspaper in the city of London. It serves as a weekly summary of the “best” user submitted content. The difference from 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 the most important content 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 magazine is edited following the hierarchical order of the categories' views on the website, meaning politics first followed by business, environment, culture… etc.

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

We’re aiming to launch the first user-generated paper by the end of September 2009 in London.
more info coming soon...