Vlogging takes off and boosts hope for citizen journalism

• In new vlogs uploaded this week, you could take a spin through teeming Mumbai in an auto-rickshaw, drop in on the life of young Filipina vlogger Karen Avila or watch a woman simply tending a kettle in her New York apartment.
• Vlogs are an offshoot of "blogs", or weblogs -- diaries posted on the Internet which sparked a new wave of "citizen journalism" -- and their audio equivalent, podcasting.
• It draws on the utopian dreams of pioneers who envisage a network of citizen journalists across the globe, liberated from the "we know what's best for you" patronage of established media firms.
• "People are interested in seeing more of real people -- they are kind of getting sick of the very flashy content and want something more down to Earth," said Amanda Congdon, co-writer and anchor of "Rocketboom", a wildly successful New York-based vlog.
• "Sometimes writers say video blogs are boring because they are not like TV shows," Garfield mused as he filmed the couple with a camera held at arm's length.
• The vlogging craze hints at the coming convergence of the Internet and television, and the soon-to-dawn day when programs will be offered a la carte as Web downloads rather than when a media firm chooses to broadcast them.
• It comes as established media companies -- newspapers as well as broadcast giants -- are starting to post podcasts, videocasts and video news reports alongside written content.
• Some vloggers glimpsed the true potential of the medium after last December's Asian tsunami disaster, when home videos, many made by tourists, were all over mainstream television stations and many were uploaded to the Web.
• Other possible marketing models for vloggers include advertising, merchandising and licensing.