Check out the content of any reverse-published, user-generated publication around the country, and you're likely to find content that is, quite frankly, pretty boring. There's a reason journalists are trained writers. It makes for better storytelling.

The next wave of community journalism will take advantage of experienced editors instead of shunning them. The model should mirror something I tried while in college, where I helped found a student magazine mostly filled with first-person stories that focused on modern issues.

One writer shared how her family dealt with becoming homeless and living in their car after their house burned down. One talked about what it's like to be clinically depressed. I told readers about my struggle coming out as gay, despite growing up as part of a family of born-again pastors and missionaries.

The editing process for these first-person stories was so important. If you're going to share such personal experience, you want to feel confident, not embarrassed. When we combine the experience of users with the experience of editors, then what's created can become a library of shared experiences that can make the world a better place - a more connected place.

Instead of telling the story of the Iraq War via daily stories, tell it in a series of first-person stories gathered and coached to life by knowledgeable editors. Ask the military mom to talk about what it's like with their child in harm's way. Ask the protester to express what it's like for them. What's it like for a person who works to manufacture Americans' weapons? The list goes on and on. And hopefully the comments in response would go on and on, as well.

Bottomline is that by providing a safe way to share life's lessons, people are more likely to do it.