City University, which has one of the top three or so UK journalism schools, has advertised a fascinating PhD scholarship in user-generated content and citizen journalism, in collaboration with Sky News.

Sky News wants to use the newcomer, who will be based in-house out in Middlesex, to recruit "citizen journalists" (a term that's from 2003 if ever there was!) who will cover the next UK general election.

Smart move, linking up with academia. Sky News could have tried this itself. But it doesn't really have the online pedigree. City's professor Neil Thurman, on the other hand, does.

Issues here will involve picking the correct mix of contributors with a fair balance of party affiliations. After all, Sky News wouldn't want to fall foul of election coverage rules.

Via Simon Dickson.