Get involved in Citizen Journalism

BANKERT CHRONICLES
" Good Morning Flint!" 5/14/09
SO... LETS CALL IT CITIZEN JOURNALISM
by Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/

HOW DO RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS INFORM THEMSELVES WHEN THE 5TH ESTATE IS COLLAPSING?

In an era where Walter has been replaced by Rush and the old alphabet soup of network news by FOX and MSNBC our trust in the "News we can Trust" has changed.

WITH THE FLINT JOURNAL FADING AWAY AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM GONE HOW DO YOU KNOW THE ISSUES OF YOUR CITY?

In Flint we are witnessing a dramatic change in how we get information by our local newspaper beginning in June only publishing 3 days a week. How do we stay informed and why is it important?

BECOME A CITIZEN JOURNALIST!

Citizen Journalist are people without professional journalism training who use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others. [ see 4]

The Internet can be used by people to keep each other informed . The cumulative contributions when personally edited for trolls (T)and whackos (W) give us "news". This is not professional and not tio be taken a truth until checked out or you form your own opinion but news to use.

WHAT IS NEWS

1.A report of a recent event; intelligence; information: EXAMPLE-His family has had no news of his whereabouts for months.
2.
the presentation of a report on recent or new events in a newspaper or other periodical or on radio or television.

3.
such reports taken collectively; information reported: There's good news tonight.

4.
a person, thing, or event considered as a choice subject for journalistic treatment; newsworthy material.
[1]
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/news

WHAT IS JOURNALISM

Journalism is the production of news reports and editorials through media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet. Journalists—be they writers, editors, photographers, broadcast presenters or producers—serve as the main purveyors of information and opinion in contemporary society.

[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

Community journalism is locally oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news.

If it covers wider topics, community journalism concentrates on their effect on local readers. Community newspapers, often but not always published weekly, also tend to cover subjects larger news media do not, such as students on the honor roll at the local high school, school sports, crimes such as vandalism, zoning issues and other details of community life.[2][3] Sometimes dismissed as "chicken dinner" stories, such "hyperlocal" coverage often plays a vital role in building and maintaining neighborhoods.

Leo Lerner, founder of Chicago's erstwhile Lerner Newspapers, used to say, "A fistfight on Clark Street is more important to our readers than a war in Europe."

In the United States, about 97 percent of newspapers are classified as "community" newspapers, with circulations below 50,000. Their combined circulation, nearly 109 million, is triple that of the combined circulation of the country's large daily newspapers.

An increasing number of community newspapers are now owned by large media organizations, although many rural papers are still "mom and pop" operations.[citation needed]
Community journalists are typically trained professional reporters and editors. Community journalism should not be confused with the work of citizen journalists, who are often unpaid amateurs, or with civic journalism,.
[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_journalism

Citizen journalism (also known as "public", "participatory", "democratic"
or "street journalism" is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information.

Authors Bowman and Willis say: "The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires."
Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, which are practiced by professional journalists, or collaborative journalism, which is practiced by professional and non-professional journalists working together. Citizen journalism is a specific form of citizen media as well as user generated content.
Mark Glaser, a freelance journalist who frequently writes on new media issues, said in 2006:

The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others. For example, you might write about a city council meeting on your blog or in an online forum. Or you could fact-check a newspaper article from the mainstream media and point out factual errors or bias on your blog. Or you might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event happening in your town and post it online. Or you might videotape a similar event and post it on a site such as YouTube.
In What is Participatory Journalism?,J. D. Lasica classifies media for citizen journalism into the following types:

Audience participation (such as user comments attached to news stories, personal blogs, photos or video footage captured from personal mobile cameras, or local news written by residents of a community)

Independent news and information Websites (Consumer Reports, the Drudge Report)
Full-fledged participatory news sites (NowPublic, OhmyNews, GroundReport)
Collaborative and contributory media sites (Slashdot, Kuro5hin, Newsvine)
Other kinds of "thin media." (mailing lists, email newsletters)
Personal broadcasting sites (video broadcast sites such as KenRadio).
New media theorist Terry Flew states that there are 3 elements "critical to the rise of citizen journalism and citizen media": open publishing, collaborative editing and distributed content.

[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_journalism

Consider becoming involved in Citizen Journalism. Come on in the water is fine.

Posted Here by Terry Bankert 5/14/09
You are invited to continue this discussion on my Face Book Page. http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry-Bankert/645845362



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sources
[1]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/news
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_journalism

[4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_journalism

24513 gmf blog

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