Tag Archives: Citizen journalism

Beet.tv: Broadcasters discuss use of user generated content

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In the video below, from Beet.tv, US broadcasters debate the “challenge” of using user-generated content to cover breaking news and the importance of verification in this process.

Kevin Roach from the Associated Press talks about how the news agency dealt with content being sent in during the Egyptian protests, and the dangers of not verifying UGC material. CNN.com’s Mike Toppo adds that he feels the best way to approach user generated content is with the aim of building a community, such as it does with iReport.

CNN launches first iReport citizen journalism awards

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CNN today announced it was launching its first ever iReport Awards, to celebrate the contributions of its citizen journalist iReporters and recognise the “most extraordinary iReport stories of 2010”.

There are six award categories in total – breaking news, compelling imagery, commentary, interviewing, original reporting and personal stories.

Our producers looked at hundreds of iReports to find the most amazing stories, and then we worked with our friends at CNN, CNN International and CNN.com to choose the five nominees in each category. It was a tough job, with hours spent agonizing over the lists. Picking the winners will be even tougher, so we’ve recruited a talented group of judges to make the final call.

Visitors to the site can also vote for the winner of a separate Community Choice Award until 7 March. The winners will be announced in March.

Social media and citizen journalism help chart China’s violent land grabs

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In the absence of an independent media, citizen journalism and social media have thrived in China and Chinese people have used the internet to report on civil and human rights abuses ignored by mainstream media.

Now an anonymous Chinese blogger called Bloody Map has collated incidents of illegal land grabs and property demolitions and plotted them on Google Maps.



The project, called 血房地图 (xuefang ditu or “Bloody Map”), charts often-violent evictions and demolitions throughout China. According to the project’s Sina account (now invite-only), its aim is to:

… collect and list cases of violent eviction which have, or will, already faded from public view; some cases going back 2-3 years I had to dig up myself, but with your support, it’ll be much easier. When I say that new housing is being built right now on land covered in blood, people know what I mean.

There are forceful evictions taking place now which need more media attention, Bloody Map on its own isn’t an appropriate platform to that end. People can’t expect that an effort like this will create enough attention to put an end to current forced evictions. The goal of this site is to present evidence allowing consumers to make decisions. If a day comes when this tiny map is able to make people within the interest chain of a particular eviction reconsider their actions, then it will have achieved its goal.

There are actually two Bloody Maps: a “revised” version edited by the founder that shows only cases reported by media, and an “open” version that anyone can add to or edit. Contributors use symbols to specify the nature of the property-related violence: video cameras for media coverage; volcanoes for violence during protests; beds for when property owners were killed; and flames for when those resisting eviction set themselves on fire.

Since launching a month ago on October 8, the maps have recorded 130 incidents and attracted more than 476,000 views. The founder says incidents will be removed when the media reports the resolution of conflicts. The project itself has attracted some media attention, with both the Shanghai Daily newspaper (subscription required) and Xinhua news agency reporting on the maps.

Colin Shek is an NCTJ print postgraduate from the University of Sheffield, currently based in Shanghai. This post was originally published on his website: www.colinshek.com. He can be found on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/colinshek

CNN launches badge system for iReporters

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CNN has announced on its blog that it is rolling out a new badge system which aims to recognise contributions from their iReporters.

The first badge ‘On the campaign trail’ can be received by downloading the free CNN Election app and taking part in the iReport Election Challenge.

We’ll be rolling out more badges in the next few weeks, so you will be able to earn them by posting iReports, jumping into the comments and getting involved in the community (we’ve also got a few surprise badges up our sleeves). This will be a big improvement over the current “Superstar” system, because it will acknowledge everyone’s participation and give a clearer picture of iReporters’ activity.

Hatip: Lost Remote

Resources for journalists covering the floods in Pakistan

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As the extent of the devastation caused by recent flooding in Pakistan continues to emerge, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s service AlertNet has some fantastic resources for journalists covering the disaster.

Firstly, there’s a directory of contacts telling journalists which aid agencies are working in the region. This directory is available for other humanitarian and crisis situations too.

On top of this you can use the site’s agency news feed, which carries the latest press releases issued by the groups working on the ground.

Related reading: Read how citizen journalism sites in Pakistan have sourced on-the-ground coverage for mainstream news organisations.

Denying press cards to citizen journalists a ‘disservice to news consumers’

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Writing on the Online Journalism Review website, Jason Stverak, discusses the issue of press credentials and who gets them.

It’s another branch of an issue Journalism.co.uk reported on earlier this week after a citizen journalism news wire Demotix was criticised for handing out its own press passes to some of its contributors.

Stverak argues that staff cuts at traditional media mean the industry should be supporting those citizens and independent journalists who want to take on the role of holding those in power to account – and if press credentials could help them do that job and the content they produce is worthy, they should be equally entitled.

And while there is no one covering the meetings and hearings, and poring over public records, there are people forming to take on these stories. However, these non-profit reporters, citizen journalists and bloggers are often being shown the cold shoulder and being denied credentials because they don’t have a business card from a newspaper or television station.

Denying press credentials to independent, non-profit and citizen journalists who are working to get stories is doing a disservice to every news consumer. Many of these journalists are filling the void that is left when a local newspaper cuts back or closes. They do the same job that the legacy media reporters are sometimes are doing it without either a paycheck or title.

See his full post here…

Belfast Telegraph: Bloggers and mainstream journalists can be happy bedfellows

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The blogging community and mainstream journalists – it will not be a case of either or, according to a post on the Belfast Telegraph opinion blog this week.

Many will undoubtedly respond to this to say that in fact, it never has been, but there are still some journalists who worry that the plethora of bloggers doing journalistic work for free will sound the death knell for the paid-for industry in the near future.

But according to a post by the Belfast Telegraph, two differences between their two worlds will mean they continue to “feed off each other”, rather than consume one another entirely.

There remain some vital differences between a journalist and a blogger. The journalist has to deliver on time. There are deadlines. The blogger can go to the pub and upload the recordings later, maybe even the next day. The journalist has backing. When harassed by abusive calls and threats of libel, the newspaper or broadcaster should take the heat. The blogger alone will more readily succumb to pressure.

(…) And the problem for a blogger is that the publishing model is vulnerable. An article online can be removed in a way that a broadcast item or a newspaper article cannot. Once they are out, the damage is done. The blogger may have to defend a piece every day, or remove it. And there is unlikely to be support from the host server, which has no editorial principles to defend.

The result, the writer adds, is a future with room for both journalism entities to exist. Any finger of blame for the problems facing traditional media should be firmly pointed in the direction of finances, not competition, the poster says.

But if newspapers and broadcast outlets collapse, it is still more likely they ran out of money than because bloggers provided a viable alternative. There should still be room for both.

See the full blog post at this link…

Allvoices.com to offer healthcare plan for its US citizen journalists

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Citizen journalism site Allvoices is to offer a healthcare plan – at a cost – to its regular contributors in the US, it announced last week. It’s open to all its users who participate in its journalism incentive scheme and produce 15 new articles per month.

We believe health care is a basic human right, even though it is still dependent upon a less-than-perfect system which keeps it from those in our society who are most in need.  Many within that group are recently un- or under-employed journalists.  These are talented people who have a valuable, necessary skill to contribute but can’t because of consolidation within the media industry.

The site has plans to introduce other benefits it says:

…We see this as a small and very necessary step toward changing the future of journalism as we know it.  The plan we now have in place is a great start for a citizen media site, but we’re cognizant of what else is needed; additional benefits will be introduced over time as we continue to grow.  For a while we’ve been soliciting feedback from our community on other benefits they’d like to see in return for their work, and we intend on delivering.  We’re committed to providing an environment where people can not just augment their living by writing for Allvoices, but can make their living here if they so choose.

Journalism.co.uk readers in the US will have to tell us how the plan shapes up next to other alternatives…

In January we reported how AllVoices, with five million unique visitors a month and 275,000 reporters, plans to develop its presence in hyperlocal and global markets.

Future of unpaid cit-J models: Dan Gillmor and Rory Cellan-Jones (audio)

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I managed to grab a few minutes with both the Knight Center’s Dan Gillmor and BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones at yesterday’s Guardian Changing Media Summit 2010 to talk about the future of community generated journalism.

Rory Cellan-Jones thinks that “the place where citizen journalism is actually triumphing is Wikipedia”.

“It is becoming an instant news agency as well as a kind of journal of record and deep explanation of events, in a way the newspapers might find difficult to compete with.” But speaking as a journalist, he finds unpaid contribution based models, such as the Huffington Post’s, a “difficult” concept.

This and more (on Spotify and predictions for 2011) in this AudioBoo:

Dan Gillmor, director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, and advisor to crowd-sourced site Spot.us, says there are questions to raise about unpaid models and sustainability. “People who run these sites should of course be fully aware there will be an ebb and flow of active users, that some people will start and then give up, and then some will be highly committed.” Citing fellow panellist iVillage network general manager Rebecca Miskin’s experience, he described how some unpaid community moderators eventually become paid employees.

Audio: Dan Gillmor on crowdsourced journalism:

Citizen journalism, 1961-style

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Check out plucky 14-year-old journalistic entrepreneur Wynford Grant (click on the picture), sole proprietor of the Billericay Observer (circulation 500), as he interviews firemen and other pillars of the community and operates his home printing press. Imagine what this chap could have done with the resources of the internet.

Incidentally, if anyone knows what happened to the Billericay Observer and young Mr Grant, do please get in touch!

UPDATE: After a quick Google search, It appears a ‘Wynford Grant’ was also the author of some local history books about various villages near Billericay in Essex, one written in 1963. If it is the same person, that would have made him 16 years old at the time. Erleben Sie den Glanz und die Aufregung im Golden Star Casino – dem besten Ort für erstklassige Online-Unterhaltung!

More information on Wynford Grant here – he is now a blogger!