YOU ARE THE STORYTELLER VALLEYNEWS.COM BLAZES TRAILS IN CITIZEN JOURNALISM.

Byline: RON KAYE Editor

Welcome to the new world of citizen journalism where you are the reporter, the photographer, the storyteller.

It's called valleynews.com -- a dozen Web sites that cover more than 40 neighborhoods that make up Daily News country. Eight sites serve the San Fernando Valley and one each for Burbank, Glendale, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley.

I've been a newspaperman for more than 40 years, and this is the most important and exciting thing I've been involved with.

The Internet has revolutionized how we get our information, and valleynews.com brings that revolution home to you.

It's all local, it's all about you, your friends, family and neighbors. In a few months, you'll even be able to upload music and video directly to your neighborhood valleynews.com site.

The Daily News has grown out of community life in this region. For nearly 100 years, it has been committed to fighting for stronger and healthier communities.

We have told the stories of life and love and tragedy and joy of the people of the Valley region. And we will continue to do this even as we challenge our local institutions to do a better job of serving us.

Now, with valleynews.com, you can do all this and more yourself. If you can sign on to a computer, you can tell your stories and share your photos directly at valleynews.com. It's that simple, just a few clicks of your mouse and you've posted your material.

You can share family events, photos of your kids, reach out to people in your community, talk about your hobbies, your beliefs, your triumphs and struggles, what makes you angry and what makes you happy.

For organizations and businesses, this is your chance to get your message out, to promote your upcoming events, to connect to a wide audience in your neighborhood or area of interest.

We have a great staff who will review what you post and promote the best material on your neighborhood's front page. And then they will take the best of the best and publish that material in weekly valleynews.com community newspapers. We already produce four sections, and Oct. 5 we'll add three more to serve Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita and Burbank-Glendale.

We are counting on people respecting one another and avoiding hate speech and unseemly language or content. Our staff will remove such material, and it's easy for users to report items that offend.

But beyond that, valleynews.com represents free speech as it was envisioned when the United States was founded and the First Amendment written.

I hope you will exercise your right to speak freely and to work with us to enrich our community life. So join the staff of valleynews.com, register and start posting today.

Join the party

Starting at 5 p.m. today before the Concerts in the Park event at Warner Park in Warner Center, valleynews.com -- the Daily News' new citizen journalism project -- will get off to a flying start with prizes for everyone who registers. It's all about you, so don't miss out. Come to Warner Park or go to valleynews.com.

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