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The citizen journalism site NowPublic landed $10.6 million in funding. Here’s what CEO Len Brody had to say during his interview on GigaOm:

Local Doesn’t Matter. “I’m not a believer in local anymore,” said Brody. “I used to think that hyperlocal was what mattered to people, but for 35 and under especially, the concept of local is very different. Like Facebook publishing the news feed… it’s changed from hyperlocal to hyperpersonal.” Weather, traffic, and crime are important, but they’re commodities, he said, adding local politics might be the exception, but nobody cares about them anymore.

Don’t Call It Citizen Journalism. “If you go to NowPublic, you will never ever see the term citizen journalism mentioned,” said Brody. “Telling someone they’re going to be a citizen journalist is like telling people they’re going to be a citizen dentist — most people view it as a profession and art form.” NowPublic’s preferred term is “crowd powered.”

Everything Is News. “If your dog wins a neighborhood beauty pageant, you can write about that,” he says. He compared NowPublic to Flickr (which was also based in Vancouver before being bought by Yahoo), where photos come from all contributors. Some of them are exceptional. “A larger pile of contributors means the better the cream is at the top.”

You Don’t Have to Pay Your Writers. “We’re personally not big believers in paying for content, because we want you to own your content.” Instead, NowPublic offers the possibility of a paid syndication deal with the AP. In the future, using some of its funding, the company wants to create a point system based on frequency and quality of participation — but not individual contributions — that might end up in financial rewards…<More>