OpenFile, a Toronto based news site, is attempting to reinvent the online news industry through open source citizen journalism, PBS reports.

According to OpenFile's website, the group's aim is to create a "vibrant, ever-evolving local news conversation among newsmakers, news-gatherers and news readers." Launched on May 11, the Web site is led by former CBC, CTV and CNN journalist Wilf Dinnick, and has received startup funding from a private venture capitalist. After three years, the site will be supported through ad revenue.

Local readers pitch stories ideas to an editor, who then assigns a story to a hired journalist. Craig Silverman, the digital journalism director, told the Neiman Lab that each reporter is meant to steward and respond to community comments about the file, add links and content, and generally "add a layer of reporting to what's already there."

Dinnick commented that "What we made clear in the beginning is that there are aggregators, and then there are online properties that create content. And that costs money. You have to pay journalists. No two ways about it."

As the National Post puts it, the OpenFile framework makes news seem less of a static document and more of an ongoing group project. While most of the content is written by professionals, users are encouraged to add their comments, videos, and additional content hereafter.

However, quality control is protected through monitoring and moderating user comments and stories.

"We're setting the tone early," Dinnick told the National Post. Although OpenFile is currently based in Toronto; it hopes to expand into other Canadian cities and eventually the United States.