I’ve been scouring the web the past week looking for new and alternative sources of news that involve citizen participation, hoping to find some good examples of such sources.
It’s easy to find mainstream or traditional news sources on the web, but a reader needs to — or should — be aware of the political and economic twist that is typically put on the stories. Many people may not realize this is the case, but very few news stories are just the facts and information.
Many articles and the sources that run them typically have an agenda to protect the interests of large corporations and one side or the other of the political agenda.
I was ignorant of this fact until the events of September 11, 2001. Like most people, I was trying to get as much information as possible and after some time I started to notice the different angles that various news sources worked. They were no longer conveying mere facts they were making one group or another look good or bad.
As a result of this bias, there may be a shift in the way people get their news and where they get it. There are more and more websites popping up that offer a venue to for everyday citizens to report news that they care about and may not be covered by mainstream media.
This goes without having a little controversy or discussion about what makes good journalism as most reporting news don’t have traditional journalism experience and it’s hard to determine who is credible and who is not.
This is beside the point. The point that a more varied collection of news can be distributed in this manner and reach a more diverse audience. It is true news for the people.
Here is a great example of a video story run by CNN/IBN out of India. Savithri Vaithi reports on a group of Indian women who had decided to make pizzas and sell them to help financially support a home for abandoned citizens.
This story is run on the CNN/IBN website and therefore has been screened to fit into CNN’s model of covering news. Despite this, it is still a great example of good citizen news.
The story is non-biased and simply reports on what these women are doing to make a difference in their community.
This type of story would typically be ignored by mainstream media and never get a chance to inform other citizens about their cause and what they can do to help. Citizen journalism offers coverage that can get the word about the little things that people are doing within a community to make a large impact on their fellow citizens.
Vaithi does a wonderful job of showing how well citizen journalism can be reported. It is very professional in the way the video was shot and presented.
Her reporting is concise and to the point in that is simple states the facts and informs others exactly what these women are doing and how it is helping the community. There is no plea for help or any indications of political affiliation. Vaithi does a good job of proving her credibility in that she has been doing citizen journalism for a while and reports in a simple and honest manner. It’s simple information and more importantly exposure about the group and senior home.
As a result of the lack of a journalism background, many stories reported by citizens may have a unorthodox style of writing for a journalistic piece especially if reported by someone who speaks English as a second language. Yet, this doesn’t mean they aren’t good stories.
Below is a simple but informing story about the resignation of Whitehouse Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5309637-desiree-rogers-resigns-julianna-smoot-to-take-her-place-as-social-secretary-white-house
Although the writing doesn’t conform to traditional journalistic and web style of writing it does a great job of stating the facts and explaining the who, what, when, and why Rogers is resigning and nothing more.
Of course it wouldn’t be prudent to end this post without including a couple of links to excellent websites that encourage and run stories reported by citizen journalists from all over the world.
Allvoices.com offers citizens to instantly add their stories to the site and rate other stories helping to ensure credibility.
http://www.allvoices.com/
Another great citizen journalism site comes out of India where citizen journalism is becoming very popular, is Mynews.in.
http://www.mynews.in/
Because of sites like these, once again we can enjoy the news and get as many perspectives as possible through sites such as these so be sure to support them and share them with your friends. I’m sure they too are looking for honest news and would appreciate it.
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