Madeline MoyBasic concepts of new media

February 9, 2008

Allan, Sonwalkar & Carter (2007) examined the role of citizen journalism in breaking down “us and them” dichotomies and in making marginalized voices heard.

The researchers reviewed three case studies of citizen journalism: the 2004 South Asian tsunami, human rights abuses in India’s northeast region and the Palestinian crisis in the occupied territories.

Some 55,000 tsunami-related blogs appeared over the first three days.◦ “Bloggers’ reports provided a degree of depth and

immediacy that mattered.”◦ Gave information that wasn’t available to

mainstream media.◦ Provided alternative to “helicopter journalism.”◦ Put human faces on the catastrophe.

Tipping point for video blogs◦ “Never before has there been a major

international story where television news crews have been so emphatically trounced in their coverage by amateurs wielding their own cameras.”

Sri Lankan resort video

“People affected by human rights violations in the north-east use the Internet to highlight problems and seek the repeal of laws that give wide powers to security forces involved in anti-insurgency operations.”

“Through online reporting and networking, local human rights workers were able to link up with similar groups in other parts of India to raise awareness about the law and to organise protests.”

“Viewers of NDTV, another widely watched news channel, regularly use text messaging to force courts to reopen long-standing, unresolved criminal cases and to expedite the delivery of justice.”

Recent development in the Arab world Goal is to “reach wide and potentially

influential audiences that might support the bloggers’ aim to place Palestinian human rights issues directly on the international news agenda.”◦ Blogs written in English to reach global audience

Electronic Intifada◦ Diaries from Palestine◦ Diaries from Lebanon

Bethlehem Bloggers Anna Baltzer Stranger Than Fiction

“The online reporting of everyday citizens…possesses the capability to bring to bear alternative perspectives, context and ideological diversity to news reports, providing Internet users with the mans to hear distant voices otherwise being marginalized, if not silenced altogether, across uneven mediascapes.”

Who can be a journalist? What counts as news? What are some positive effects of ordinary

citizens being actively engaged in collecting and presenting news?

What are some negative effects of citizen journalism?

Allan, S., Sonwalkar, P., & Carter, C. (2007, November). Bearing witness: citizen journalism and human rights issues. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 5(3), 373-389. Retrieved February 8, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.