Citizen journalism, also known as “participatory journalism,” is the act of citizens “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information,” according to the seminal report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis. They say, “The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.” [1] (http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/weblog.php?id=P36)
“Public journalism” can refer to this journalism work by ordinary people, or it can mean certain work or aspects of work by professional journalists. The latter meaning is also often called “civic journalism”.
Citizen journalism usually involves empowering ordinary citizens — including traditionally marginalized members of society — to engage in activities that were previously the domain of professional reporters. “Doing citizen journalism right means crafting a crew of correspondents who are typically excluded from or misrepresented by local television news: low-income women, minorities and youth — the very demographic and lifestyle groups who have little access to the media and that advertisers don’t want,” says Robert Huesca, an associate professor of communication at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
Citizen journalists may be activists within the communities they write about. This has drawn some criticism from traditional media institutions such as The New York Times, which have accused proponents of public journalism of abandoning the traditional goal of objectivity.
Civic journalism refocuses the mission of the news media. According to Edward M. Fouhy of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, “It is an effort to reconnect with the real concerns that viewers and readers have about the things in their lives they care most about — not in a way that panders to them, but in a way that treats them as citizens with the responsibilities of self-government, rather than as consumers to whom goods and services are sold. It takes the traditional five w’s of journalism — who, what, when, where, why — and expands them — to ask why is this story important to me and to the community in which I live?”
Google adds personalization
Imitation and the Slippery Slope of Portaldom: My Google (by Jeremy Zawodny).
Take a look at their default news modules. There *should* be others up in arms over that.
Episode III Rocked!
I was at the Star Wars premier at Neshanamy Mall last night with Richelle, her mom and dad, and some friends from work. The movie rocked. I said this in Binq‘s comments thread: I went in looking for something great and the movie did not disappoint. That’s a rare thing.
This one movie should have been made into the three.
I don’t take much stock in critics, and as always there have been plenty of negative reviews, but surprisingly, this time around there have been just as many positive ones as well. Here goes two:
Washington Post: ‘Sith’: The Promise Fulfilled
NYTimes: Some Surprises in That Galaxy Far, Far Away
Related: Turns out there are some on the right uncomfortable with some lines in the movie: NYTimes: Latest ‘Star Wars’ Movie Is Quickly Politicize.
You’ll want to see this on the big screen. I’m seeing it again this Saturday with another group of friends and family.
net.movies.sw – Starwars on the Internet back in 1983!
Google Groups : net.movies.sw.
Wow. Some terrific reading here. Things never change. They just never change.
Abraham beats Williams in district attorney’s race
Philadelphia Inquirer: Abraham beats Williams in district attorney’s race.
I’ll have more when I collect my thoughts. Just know that even if Seth Williams lost this race, it was a special one for a number of reasons.
Bands Embrace Social Networking
Traditionally, bands toured cities and played dive bars to create buzz about their music. But with MySpace, bands can host demos of their songs, announce shows and connect with fans without spending weeks on the road.
“We’ve developed communities for unknown bands really quickly, which would take a lot longer a few years back,” said Alan Miller, co-founder of Filter magazine, which last month teamed up with MySpace to develop The Booth, an online promotion featuring a different band each week.
“It’s a medium where people can go and hear new music and develop an attachment to the band,” said Miller.
Wired News: Bands Embrace Social Networking via Scripting News.
In the Philadelphia region? Get out and vote today!
Details at Philly Future.
Newsgator Buys FeedDemon
Business2blog: Newsgator Buying Bradbury. Newsgator’s well known online service coupled with one of the leading desktop readers. Lots of possibilities here.
Related:
Chris Pirillo interview with Nick Bradbury (FeedDemon) and Greg Reinacker (FeedDemon).
Year of making money off of blogs and RSS continues
Tuning into MediaTurner
Om Malik’s Broadband Blog: Tuning into MediaTuner. MediaTuner is a Flash based RSS reader that attempts to break new ground for ease of use using multimedia – video, podcasts, torrents – in RSS feeds.
Community Interview With Dianah Neff at Philly Future ends this Wednesday
Dianah Neff, CIO of Philadelphia, is stopping by to answer questions direct from you, about Wireless Philadelphia, her job as CIO, and more. It’s *your* interview with her. This is a rare opportunity and we’re honored to have her at the site posting answers to your questions.
Please see, spread the word about, and especially participate in Dianah Neff’s community interview at Philly Future.