:: LNR Journalism ::

A bold experiment: Sending citizen reporters to cover national conventions

PBS Mediashift :: What happens when you toss in a pair of citizen reporters, and put them on national television asking the one question that conventioneers don't want to answer: What are you doing to get money out of politics? We launched the Digital Citizen experiment in July 2012 to find out.

A report by Evelyn Messinger, www.pbs.org

Is this an act of journalism? Practice of journalism has become more open

digiphile :: Anyone with a smartphone can now do reporting: share geolocated photos, video or stream what’s happening. I’m here, you’re not, here’s what I see. Does that rise to an “act of journalism?” That’s going to be key question in the not-so-distant future, if Congress gets around to re-examining shield laws.

A report by Alexander B. Howard, digiphile.wordpress.com

Open data: Will citizen publishing of digital information trump online news?

Lean Back 2.0 | Economist Group :: Open data – not subject to costly licenses for access – is part of a growing phenomenon where citizens depend, not on government, but on their own production of digital information to tell stories. Crowdsourcing, using digital platforms, does not need to involve paid contributors (although it sometimes does in the case of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk). It does not require professional training as a journalist or data analyst. It seems to work faster than traditional publishing to galvanize people into social action.

Public policy and open data - A report by Robin Mansell, LSE, www.economistgroup.com

Olympic Opening Ceremony: Hidden camera of a performer

You will find a camera everywhere ...

eye wasthere | YouTube :: This is footage [15:03] taken from a hidden camera that I built into my costume (almost invisible to the naked eye) to give a performer's perspective during the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. The footage you see is taken from the Pandemonium Section (Industrial Revolution) just after 9pm GMT Friday 27th July 2012.

Uploaded/text written by eye wasthere, www.youtube.com

Washington D.C. officers are directed to leave citizen photographers alone

Washington Post :: District police cannot interfere with citizens as they photograph or videotape officers performing their jobs in public, according to a new directive issued by Chief Cathy L. Lanier as part of settlement in a civil lawsuit.

A report by Peter Hermann, www.washingtonpost.com

Erik Martin: Reddit and citizen journalism, no it's not new

No, it is not new and it is not a cause for traffic spikes.

AdWeek :: Adweek: Has this type of painstakingly curated and investigative citizen journalism been going on for a while and people are just getting wise to it on a national level, or is this something new to Reddit?

Erik Martin: ... on a much lighter note in some of our sports communities are pulling in real-time data from FIFA or the NBA or whatever league, and they'll pull those in to create informative threads. For the Euro 2012, users used the data from the games to find a different way to cover these live events. This has been going on since the beginning ... .

Interview with Erik Martin, Reddit - A piece by Charlie Warzel, www.adweek.com

#CitizenJournalism under threat in Sudan

SudanWatch :: Citizen journalism has been changing the media landscape since the rise of blogs in the late 90′s. This is why in Sudan, and as the government continues its crackdown on media and journalists, citizen journalism becomes more important than ever. The government of Sudan recognizes the threat from citizen journalists and is actively targeting them. Them is a select few. Very few.

Continue to read the call to action here sudanwatch.com

Usamah Mohammed (@simsimt), a Sudanese activist 'at risk of torture' - A report by stream.aljazeera.com

Will Sudan pull a Mubarak? - Continue to read Jillian C. York, www.eff.org

Dear all: We need your help to raise awareness about #CitizenJournalism under threat - t.co/PoRB1svB #FreeUsamah #SudanRevolts

— Mimz (@MimzicalMimz) July 22, 2012

How you can help:Record a video highlighting the importance of #CitizenJournalism. Send it to freeusamah (at) sudanwatch dot com #FreeUsamah

— Mimz (@MimzicalMimz) July 22, 2012

A citizen journalist on Reddit 'told the world about the Aurora shooting'

Buzzfeed :: In the early morning, as professional media scrambled to cover the movie theater shooting in Aurora, CO, the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information wasn't a news site or a TV station. It was a series of posts on Reddit, the social news site, written by a user named "integ3r."

Morgan Jones posted a link to the story on Reddit — he was the first — and began posting updates, pulling in new information, correcting old information, and addressing questions from other users. By virtue of speed, his familiarity with the area, and the promotion other users, he fast became the go-to source in the story.

A report by John Herrman, www.buzzfeed.com

Commented by Alan Stamm, Poynter (added my comment as well)

Washington State University: Citizen journalism to transform 'rural information ghetto' needed

Social Capital Review :: A new report (PDF direct download link) issued by Washington State University’s Murrow College of Communication calls for creation and training of citizen blogger networks across the state, allied with daily newspapers and funded by foundations – in an effort to transform Washington’s “rural information ghetto.”

Continue to read Matt Rosenberg, socialcapitalreview.org

HT: Tracie Powell, Poynter

20-year-old citizen journalist Hamza Mahmoud Othman dies in Syria

DOHA :: 42nd journalist dies in Syria. 20 year-old citizen journalist Hamza Mahmoud Othman was shot by a sniper in the Al Joubar neighborhood, in Homs. He was the brother of citizen journalist Ali Mahmoud Othman who was arrested on March 28 in Alep.

Continue to read www.dc4mf.org