By the people for the people.
Or: What the hell is citizen
journalism, and how do I do it?
What is citizen journalism
Wikipedia says:
• Citizen journalism is the concept of members
of the public ‘playing an active role in the
process of collecting, reporting, analysing, and
disseminating news and information.’
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Is Wikipedia a reliable source?
A perfect example of citizen journalism
What you need to be a citizen
journalist
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A pen
A pad
A mobile phone (optional)
The internet (optional)
• The internet
– The internet has fuelled the rise of citizen
journalism by making media more accessible.
OhmyNews
http://english.ohmynews.com/
Wiki News
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page
Indy Media
www.indymedia.org.au
360 News
http://www.360ne.ws/
The Guardian: Collaborative journalism
http://mps-expenses.guardian.co.uk/
What makes news?
• News values:
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Proximity
Impact
Conflict
Timeliness
Weirdness
Currency
•The 5 W’s and the H:
 Who
 What
 Where
 When
 Why
 How
What you need to know.
Boring (but important) stuff
• Attribution
– Who did you talk to?
• Objectivity
– Objectivity vs. Subjectivity
• Defamation
– Can you prove it?
• Ethics
• Tense
• Credibility
How to tell a story
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Most important stuff first
Always introduce sources/ talent
News – Short sharp style
Feature – Conversational but interesting
How to find a story
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Stay informed
Read the paper
Talk to people
Twitter
Notice boards
Magazines
Follow a crowd
Luck
The impact of social media on citizen
journalism
Social media has given people an outlet
• Blogs
– Wordpress
– Tumblr
– Posterous – What I’ll be using today
• Twitter
• Citizen journalism websites
How twitter can help
• It’s a great way to advertise yourself
• A great aggregator
• Can be source of tip-offs
• If you organise it correctly (lists ect) it’s a
really easy way to access lots of different
content.
Twitter clients
• A majority of twitter users don’t access the
service through the website.
• Find a client that suits how you use twitter
• Clients: There are hundreds of different ones
– Tweetie
– Tweetdeck
– Seesmic
– Hootsuite
The art of twitter
• Don’t post rubbish, you’ll lose followers.
• Keep it simple – You’ve only got 140
characters.
• Don’t chase followers, respect them.
• Keep your innocence.
• Be different – or at least try.
• Don’t try too hard
• Don’t sell out to commercial competitions
Multi-platform journalism
• Journos will now head out alone and be
expected to return with images, audio and
video of their story.
• The web provides us with a platform for these
different types of media.
• Use whatever medium you feel most
comfortable in.
From source to screen
You can get your pictures, audio and video
from your story to a blog in less than 10
minutes without a computer.
– You will need
• An e-mail capable mobile
• A blog (I’m using a Posterous account)
The best from the rest
• There are a few quick things you can do to make
your stuff stand out
– Photos
• Exposure
• Rule of thirds
– Audio
• Good volume
• No wind
– Video
• Still as possible
• Have interviewee looking into empty space
Don’t forget
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Ask questions, a lot of questions.
Get people to spell their names.
People like bright colours and pictures.
Be objective.
Don’t defame anyone.
Don’t feel limited.