1) Participatory journalism in the USA includes individual bloggers, niche sites, advocacy groups, and crowdsourcing platforms that allow diverse participants to contribute news and information through acts of journalism. 2) Trends in participatory journalism include breaking news reporting, watchdogging, micro-local news, and crowdsourcing investigations. Participation opportunities exist through citizen watchdog projects, video mashups, group blogs, and user generated content. 3) Studies have found that citizen media can provide more diverse perspectives than mainstream media, with less focus on major news stories and fewer stereotypes. However, citizen media is also more fragmented and lacks the resources of large news organizations.