FREEPORT (WIFR) -- The age of information brought on by the internet saw the creation of internet bloggers, vloggers and everything in between. However while blogging is on the decline one Stateline man is turning legitimate citizen journalism into a successful internet business.

Keith Bardell is a life-long news hound so when he lost his job at the local Freeport newspaper it didn't stop his journalistic ambitions. Instead it pushed him to begin his own paper... sort of.

"I decided the only way I was going to be able to do it was to do it the Cindy Margolis way. I would just create my own job and put myself on the internet," says Bardell.

Bardell launched SeeFreeNews.com, a paperless news paper, in 2008 after picking up a business degree from Highland Community College. His goal? Fill the "happy news" niche and provide a place for local businesses to advertise. It's a story of successful citizen journalism but without the internet SeeFreeNews wouldn't exist.

"It's given a lot of independent entrepreneurs the chance to work for themselves and create their own jobs not just in citizen journalism," says Bardell.

The site is more than just print media. Bardell's coverage of local events behind the video camera has led to a fast-selling DVD, an ad-share deal with YouTube and several regular contributors.

"I've got a column that is published weekly, nationally and to be honest if I didn't believe in Keith I wouldn't risk those things," says published author and SeeFreeNews columnist David Kentner.

SeeFreeNews almost didn't happen however at a critical point Bardell made a crucial decision.

"When I originally started the name was "The Launchpad Independent" thinking that when I got out of college it was going to take off so fast just like a rocket. And then I thought that was really a stupid name."

Bardell adds expansion is in his big picture plan. He would like to bring SeeFreeNews to smaller communities throughout the region creating a web of citizen journalist driven content and filling the "happy news" niche.

Bardell's YouTube page has had more than 30,000 hits but that doesn't translate into a lot of cash. He only gets about one penny per ad that is actually clicked on.