Dan Gillmor, a former Merc columnist and proponent of citizen journalism, has joined Salon.com as a reporter and columnist, according to a news release.

Gillmor left the Merc in 2005 to start a citizen journalism site called Bayosphere, which didn’t work out because of a lack of interest by readers and would-be contributors.

But he has used his experiences to set up a foundation for citizen journalism. While writing for Salon.com, Gillmor will remain as director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University.