<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="right"><font face="@SimSun" size=5 color="#008080"><b>
Bangladesh NGOs Network for<br>
Radio and Communication<br>
</b></font><font face="Arial Narrow, Helvetica" size=1>Promoting
Communication Technology for a Fairer World<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br></font></div>
<dl>
<dd><font face="Verdana" size=4 color="#FF0000">Of new media, citizens'
journalism and human rights</font><font size=3>
<dd>Shaila Shahid<br>
<br><br>
<dd>
<img src="http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2007/12/04/op01.jpg" width=250 height=204 alt="[]">
<dd>Photo:KSFV<br><br>
<dd>Are 'citizens' journalism' and 'new media' mere buzzwords or do they
really make a difference compared to the reach and impact of traditional
media? Or does censorship that traditional media is often subjected to
apply any differently to new media and citizens journalism? Recently
these questions are being raised worldwide with the changing global
scenario. Apparently, there have been tremendous steps taken in the field
of journalism. The ways of viewing journalism are also changed with the
emergence of new technologies such as the internet and mobile phone. A
sea of change is sweeping the spheres of traditional journalism. However,
new age journalism should not replace traditional journalism, as the two
are better suited to be complementary to each other. The above mentioned
views were discussed at the workshop titled "Pushing the new
envelope: New media, citizens' journalism, human rights and
development" of the Third Global Knowledge Conference, held in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, organised by Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) on 12th
December 2007.
<dd>This panel brings together key thought leaders and innovators in new
media and citizens' journalism to explore the intersection of traditional
and new media, and the opportunities as well as challenges to be tackled.
The views present to support human rights and media freedom - especially
in countries with violent and repressive regimes. The panel speakers were
Dan Gillmor, author of the book "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism
for the People by the People"; Ms. Ory Okolloh, Blogger at Kenya
Pundit, Global Voices; Steven Gan, Editor-in-chief of Malaysia Kini and
Ms. Sharmini Boyle, Chief Editor, Young Asia Television. The workshop was
moderated by Sanjana Hattotuwa, Head, ICT for Peacebuilding InfoShare,
Colombo, Sri Lanka.
<dd>The speaker and participants opined that now-a-days citizens'
journalism has been described as individuals "playing an active role
in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news
and information." The intent of this participation is to provide
independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information
that a democracy requires. Citizens' Journalism is slowly being looked
upon as a form of rightful democratic way of giving honest news,
articles, etc, directly by citizens of the world from anywhere. It is
attempting a new type of journalism with the aim of an open source and
investigative documentary about how the news media is becoming critical
to the issues of mass people. Citizens' Journalism is to express the
emotional and grass-roots view of an issue, while it needs Traditional
Journalism to cover the fields where it is strongest e.g. international
issues. Furthermore, in some countries, e.g. Kenya, unless you are a
journalist, you can't take notes in parliament. You have to do it under
cover. Moreover, to get a press pass is also very politicised, hence
blogs serve as an important tool to dispel what we see on television,
say, the monolithic view of the African youth.<br><br>
<dd>In terms of challenges, the biggest one is not money. These
challenges are, namely, sourcing information, getting access to cover
live sessions of parliament, lack of internet access -- limited
readership because of limited internet access (how to link to other
media, getting local publicity) -- how to grow with other commitments,
skepticism about whether the public will find this to be a useful tool
and whether the blog can be influential.
<dd>Visions, innovations and trends
<dd>Due to the improving technologies and miniaturisations thereof, it is
now more difficult for governments to keep secrets. It is now easier for
anyone to make a website or a blog, all assisted by the veritable low
cost of the hardware as well as the use of open source software which
powers many blogs. There is, therefore, no time like the present to be an
entrepreneur.
<dd>Priorities and potential for action
<dd>There must be emphasis given on providing new media literacy across
the board. The new age journalists must be taught the values that must
also be enforced in traditional journalism i.e. thoroughness, accuracy,
fairness, independence and the additional value of transparency (which,
it was pointed out, is a problem not only in governments, but NGOs as
well when it comes to sharing information with the public).
<dd>Burning questions and the questions to be deepened further
<dd>The most important questions for an established journalism
organisation [be it Citizens' Journalism or otherwise] is ensuring two
main things, Credibility and Financial Viability. Both bloggers and
traditional media have their strength and their own way of ensuring their
credibility to their reader base: however, the question of finance always
rears its head (sometimes with the cajoling of the governments putting
pressure on the advertisers). Another question was ensuring the
sustainability of the blogs once the originator of the idea ceases to
have time to dedicate to updating the blog and reporting. Although
technology allows more people to take part and contribute, there must
still be a search for further avenues to attract people to ensure the
lifeline of the blogs.
<dd>The session also addressed several key questions regarding citizens'
journalism. The main points that were discussed are:
<dd>* Placed in harm's way for the content one produces or showcases, how
resilient is citizens' journalism in the face of regimes that attack
human rights defenders and media freedom?
<dd>* Broadband is a pre-requisite for most new media. Is the new media
revolution exacerbating the digital divide? How much can we generalise on
the potential of new media to strengthen sustainable development as well
as political and human rights issues?
<dd>* Is new media more or less reflecting the imbalances in old media
(e.g. gender related imbalances) or is it more representative and
equitable?
<dd>* You Tube and SecondLife play a visible role in the mainstream party
politics of some countries - is it a sign of things to come and what are
the possibilities it presents for the future?
<dd>* What does the future hold? What will the new media in 2015 look,
feel and sound like?<br><br>
<dd>In the question answer session responding to a question about the
risk of doing citizens' journalism, Dan Gillmor conceded that the risks
in developed countries e.g. in USA, is very low. The worst that can
happen is that maybe someone can sue a person. But in other parts of the
world, it's not the case; the risks are greater. People have to be
extremely cautious as to what new media ask citizens' to do as well as to
have some technological means for protecting identity, for people who
need anonymity.
<dd>A question was posed about ensuring the sustainability of the blogs
once the originator of the idea ceases to have time to dedicate to
updating the blog and reporting. Ms Okolloh stated that, although
technology allows more people to take part and contribute, there must
still be a search for further avenues to attract people to ensure the
lifeline of the blogs. An alternative means would be sourcing for funds
from donors. However, this would have the undesirable effect of turning
the pure blogging outfit, into a business-minded NGO; and the
restructuring that would surely follow would detract the movement of the
blog by introducing more bureaucracy. Also contributing to the question
of risks in journalism, she pointed out that, when working on a political
blog, one must make a conscious decision to try to get the truth out with
the risks very well in mind. Also asked a question about the government's
stance on choosing public safety over public freedom, Steven Gan
responded by saying that usually most governments are not protecting the
citizens, but are protecting themselves.
<dd>Drawing on example of Sri Lanka, Ms. Sharmini Boyle showed how
journalists are even afraid to report on issues for fear of reaction from
the authorities. However, she pointed out that Young Asia television sees
their work as an important catalyst for change. The media often plays a
non-constructive or destructive role; but in a situation where there are
such conflicts as in Sri Lanka, sometimes sides are picked and the matter
is worsened instead of helped. The public will therefore not be
comfortable in voicing opinion in an environment of intolerance.
<dd>Dan Gillmor gave an overview of the traditional media and how
citizens' journalism has made a positive contribution to the media. With
examples from the assassination of JFK (which was captured on video by a
bystander with a personal camera) to the Tsunami, he showed the extent to
which new media is helping the phenomenon of Citizens' Journalism. He
posed the question “Are the citizens going to replace journalism?” and
replied to his own question by saying “I hope not, it's symbiotic.”
<dd>The discussants stressed the need that there should be more of a
“please help us” style of journalism, rather than the “take it or leave
it” style. Due to low cost innovation, now is the best opportunity in
history to be a journalistic entrepreneur. It's something that people are
seeing all over the world and in terms of media literacy people have to
teach a new kind of media literacy. The journalists must help people
understand that it's important to be skeptical and it is also important
that people should learn to judge from the various media. Furthermore,
new media actors should learn media techniques rather than just shooting
videos and writing blogs. <br><br>
<dd>However, the key recommendations that came out from the discussions
was to encourage independent media to have independent financing which
will ensure more autonomy from the government control. 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 means to hear distant voices
otherwise being marginalised, if not silenced altogether. On the other
hand the session sought to identify a number of ways in which citizens'
journalism -- specially with regard to its capacity to bear witness to
human suffering -- can help to reconfigure the geometry of informational
power in the 'network society.'<br><br>
<dd>
<a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2007/12/04/index.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2007/12/04/index.htm</a>
<dd>Source: Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).
<dd>The writer is working for the law desk,The Daily Star.<br><br>
</dl> <br><br>
</font></body>
</html>