Students from City University London are collaborating with new citizen media website Yoosk.com to create interactive and innovative news features.

The students, all on City's MSc Electronic Publishing, have created their own features for Yoosk.com on subjects such as the proposal for a third runway for Stansted Airport, the role of journalists in the Madeleine McCann story and the inclusion of female boxing in the 2012 London Olympics.

Yoosk.com provides a forum for ordinary members of the public to post questions to the people in the news. The questions can be voted on by other users and if they gain enough support, Yoosk uses its network of journalists to get the questions answered.

The City students' features are now live on the site and the site's users have been invited to submit questions, which will be answered by leading public figures relevant to each story. The students have been responsible for contacting the leading figures involved in their stories and obtaining a commitment from them to answer questions. Those who have agreed to questions include senior MPs, business leaders and top TV editors.

City is the first university in the country to take part in such a venture. This project once again places City's Department of Journalism and Publishing - which runs the MSc together with City's School of Informatics - at the forefront of training for the industry, at a time when journalists are interacting with their readers more than ever".

Neil Thurman, senior lecturer at City, says: "This project will give City students real experience in web-based journalism. Our link-up with Yoosk.com will give them the opportunity to learn key skills in online publishing, not only by working with an innovative new journalism site, but through meaningful interaction with Yoosk.com's growing audience."