Similar sites have captured the imagination of ordinary users with a so-called “citizen” brand of journalism, but NowPublic is gaining attention for the size of its fast-growing army of 118,000 members who write and post news stories, cellphone camera pictures, and videos from 3,600 cities in over 140 countries.

“Think of us as a new kind of wire service that has eyes and ears all over the world,” said CEO and co-founder Leonard Brody in an interview. “When the cyclones broke in Oman a few weeks ago, AP’s bureau chief in Saudi Arabia couldn’t get there. By the time he left his driveway, we already had eight photos and stories filed.” —Joanne Lee-Young —News site secures landmark capital funding (Vancouver Sun)

NowPublic makes money in part by charging mainstream media for access to its citizen reporters. Do we have a scorpion-on-the-back-of-the-tortoise situation here?