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In a recent IREX report, journalist Namo Abdulla recounts that one of the most important resources a journalist can use is social media.This is important in parts of the world where censorship and cultural norms limit the public’s ability to write, release and read information.

Now that people are riding the tidal wave of Egyptian-style protests, social media is particularly important.

Students at universities in the Middle East are demanding more education in the area of social media, which lends itself to making all students citizen journalists…especially those studying journalism.

Abdulla writes: “Kurdish newspapers and magazines have a tendency to self-censor for cultural and political reasons. Now Facebook and blogs are the publisher of photos, poems and other items that would not be published in the traditional media.”

Read the full report here.

An online newspaper editor is setting a horrible example for citizen journalists who want to cover news in their communities.

Ian Murphy, editor of the reportedly left-leaning Buffalo Beast website based in Buffalo, N.Y., failed to identify himself correctly before interviewing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker about the debate surrounding public-employee unions that led Democratic state senators to leave the state to stop a vote.

According to an Associated Press report in The Denver Post on Thursday, Feb. 24,  Walker thought he was talking to a conservative billionaire named David Koch, not the editor of an online newspaper.

In the interview, Walker reportedly described several ways to pressure Democrats to return to the state Capitol and said his supporters had considered planting people in the protest crowds to stir up trouble.

After he learned the interviewer was not who he thought, Walker was quoted as saying: “The things I said are the things I’ve said publicly all the time.”

So Murphy didn’t really get any fantastic scoop from his unethical conduct, which he told the AP he did to show how candid Walker would speak to a conservative while refusing to return calls from Democrats.

This incident reminds me why I am so passionate in my role as a trainer for the National Association of Citizen Journalists. I don’t want citizen journalists to learn how to be journalists from folks like Murphy. Deception is not the way to do journalism.

So please, if you are a practicing or aspiring citizen journalist, identify yourself correctly before interviewing folks. Honesty is the only way to be ethical and respected. And that’s the only way to be a journalist – professional or citizen.

Susan Cormier is the head coach in charge of training at the National Association of Citizen Journalists (http://nacj.us/) and co-author of the “Handbook for Citizen Journalists” (http://www.citizenjournalistnow.com/).

AOL’s $315 million purchase of The Huffington Post that was announced Sunday, Feb. 6, raised eyebrows in the online journalism community.

According to news reports, Arianna Huffington will take control of all of AOL’s editorial content as president and editor in chief of a newly created Huffington Post Media Group.

AOL, which has been seen as apolitical, risks losing its nonpartisan image, according to The New York Times, which also quoted Huffington as saying her politics would have no bearing on how she ran the new business.

Sprinting out of the starting gate, Huffington the next day talked about how she wanted to put citizen journalists to work on the 2012 presidential campaign.

Some have questioned whether the citizen journalists and bloggers who have contributed free content will remain onboard without pay.

At the same time, others have written that HuffPo’s business model is misunderstood and that the content contributed by unpaid writers represents only a small share of its traffic.

Only time will tell how this will develop, but it certainly will be interesting to watch.

Susan Cormier is the head coach in charge of training at the National Association of Citizen Journalists (http://nacj.us/) and co-author of the “Handbook for Citizen Journalists” (http://www.citizenjournalistnow.com/).

Learning how to run a profitable, local, news website is an enigma to many, even those who have been in the news business for years.

Individuals struggling with this concept might learn a thing or two from a recent article in Editor & Publisher written by Hal DeKeyser, a reporter, photographer, opinion editor, columnist and publisher in the Phoenix area for 25 years.

In his article, DeKeyser suggests that this new era in news “offers the chance to run your own news operation without the big iron and distribution expense.” But DeKeyser also notes this new era also comes with numerous barriers and headaches.

He should know. He’s made several attempts at starting local news websites, including his current project, DigitalPeoriaAZ.com.

In the E & P article, he outlines nine lessons he has learned along the way. Here are just four of those hard-learned lessons, as written by DeKeyser:

1. “Start slow. Our current beta site, DigitalPeoriaAZ.com, presents the full array of local information – schools, government, business, calendars – but not a lot of original reporting yet. It’s important to get the site up, running, noticed by the search engines, and begin creating local partnerships first.
2. “Create partnerships. With all the sites out there, plus good and halfhearted stabs at it by the newspapers still publishing, local entities won’t think they need you. Be valuable to organizations, businesses, schools, clubs, governments, and chambers. A media partner would be killer. Woodlands Online has a new partnership with CBS affiliate KHOU-TV, which plays on both of their strengths: being intensely local and regional.

3. “Tell the world, through social media, links, and e-mail blasts to opt-in registrants, getting your customers and partners to promote the site and its content, repurposing messages through as many pipelines as possible.

4. “Pick your niche and live it. For us, it’s local. Another site in the Phoenix area concentrates only on non-school youth sports. Some are business or areas of business, like real estate, or even more narrow niches, such as Hispanic women in business.”

Susan Cormier is the head coach in charge of training at the National Association of Citizen Journalists (http://nacj.us/) and co-author of the “Handbook for Citizen Journalists” (http://www.citizenjournalistnow.com/).

Research for news or feature stories is very different to academic study. Time limits or  ’deadlines’ are usually more critical and the depth of information required is much less. In journalism, research will be for background information and for the purposes of finding people you can interview for expert comment or analysis. These are called  ’sources’. In news journalism, a single source is often used in an article but feature writers use several sources.

Most organisations have designated employees who deal with media enquiries. They are usually called a press officer and work in the press office. But they may be a marketing person or even staff at a public relations company. The press office will supply you with news releases, brochures and leaflets, known as  ’hand-out’ material. Press officers are usually helpful, all too aware that today’s journalism student or writing enthusiast may be tomorrow’s Fleet Street staffer. They will answer your questions and may assist you to arrange an interview with a source which, in television, is called unflatteringly a  ’talking head’. Adding your contact details to a press officer’s mailing list can result in invitations to potentially valuable sources of stories like product launches and news conferences. Potential interviewees can be found using publications including:

The Directory of British Associations, available in most reference libraries.

The Hollis Press and Public Relations Annual

The Writers and Artists Yearbook

The Guardian Media Guide which lists a range of media contacts and the names, telephone numbers and websites for local councils, government departments, hospitals, police services, courts, prisons, museums, theatres and embassies.

A good reference library will have a variety of specialist directories as well CD-ROMS containing back issues of newspapers and journals. It is worthwhile joining more than one library. London has a number of these, for instance Westminster Reference Library, the British Library and the Royal Institute for International Affairs, which researchers can use by prior appointment.

The internet is now an easy and standard source for research. There are a number of major search engines on the net and a few like Ask Jeeves at askjeeves.co.uk and Answers.com are particularly user-friendly because you can enter a question. All the major newspapers have searchable archives, for example guardian.co.uk. Though the internet is a great resource, for accuracy, be careful to use authoritative sites and double check facts when not doing this. For example, though the online encyclopaedic resource wikipedia.org is a boon, remember that it is written by volunteers who are not necessarily experts (anybody who wants to contribute can) and therefore information on it needs to be cross-referenced with other sources.

It is not uncommon for people who are new to journalism to spend an inordinate amount of effort on research and then leave little time for the writing of an article. The important consideration in the first stage of constructing your piece is the topicality of the story, its relevance to a target audience and interesting angle. This will provide the necessary focus for your research, saving precious time and labour. The UK’s citizen journalism website The-Latest.com is rich with resources for would-be journalists.

The following should give you some story ideas.

Updates

What was really behind President George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’, in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and why did Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and other leaders support it?

What’ was the true casualty total after a ‘terrorist bombing’? Who was really behind these earth-shattering events?

What’s the latest on official probes like the investigations into the controversial death of Princess Diana?

What’s happening in a court case, crime or other investigation you’re interested in, but suddenly the news media stops reporting or doesn’t cover at all?

You can submit Freedom of Information Act inquiries to public bodies for you and get important questions answered. See: http://www.the-latest.com/freedom-of-information-advice

Travel and Health

In today’s uncertain world, to what places is it safe to travel? And, with the advent of new pandemics like bird flu, what’s the latest health advice? Tell us about your transport experiences or treatment at the hands of the health service or other official bodies. Be a whistle-blower on information being kept secret by the powers-that-be when the public have the right to know.

Where are they now?

Tell is what’s happened to a favourite soap star no longer in the show? A politician, pop star, sports personality, actor or model – where are they now?

New Products

Write a sneak preview of the latest products like mobile phones, electrical and other goods as a consumer.

Copyright  © 2008 The-Latest.com

Republished with permission.



A couple of my recent blogs have focused on feature writing as a great way for average citizens to jump in and explore the world of citizen journalism or user-generated content.

I’ve suggested that features are an easier way for newcomers to get started than hard news, and I’ve offered a few helpful hints along the way.

Today, I’m presenting two examples of features I have written to generate interest in two community events. In both of these stories, the news peg was the upcoming event. But rather than writing a news brief that only states the time, location and date, I generated interested by focusing on an individual who would be at the event.

One feature was designed to inform folks about a travel photography class. For that piece, I wrote about the photographer who was giving the class, his background and his travels. That way, interested people would know the instructor’s credentials and want to sign up for the class.

The other article featured an artist who turned insects and butterflies into magnificent pieces of art. This was an easy one. My obvious first question was: Why would someone want to play with insects and bugs for a living?

This incredibly creative woman was just one of the artists who would be at an upcoming show. So again, the news angle was the show.

Both of these features generated a significant amount of interest in the events. The photography class was filled to capacity and the insect artist’s booth saw incredible traffic during the two-day art show.

Susan Cormier is the head coach in charge of training at the National Association of Citizen Journalists (http://www.nacj.us/) and co-author of the “Handbook for Citizen Journalists” (http://www.citizenjournalistnow.com/).

A blogger in Egypt recently wrote: “Al Jazeera owned Tunisia. Now, they own Egypt too.”

What does it mean to own a story? And in a place where journalists are being shoved out of the picture (or the country) does ownership fall into the hands of the citizens? When a journalist includes a byline they take some ownership of a story. When a newspaper or website publishes something, they also take ownership of the story.

As a journalist, every story becomes your own. After some time, this story becomes shared; the person interviewed owns it, the writer owns it, the editor owns it, the news agency owns it, and then the viewers own it…

Ownership in Egypt is changing now. If Al Jazeera really does “own” this story, then it is not strictly theirs. Last night, as Internet lines were opened to the public once again, Al Jazeera tweeted: “(We) urge people who have any images or video from the protests to submit it to us via: http://yourmedia.aljazeera.net”

The Human Rights Watch distributed an article about why Egypt reversed the blackout. They write that the government is now “scared of its own people.” These are the people who are now in control.

Ownership is now in the hands of average people, involved in the protests. Right now, it is estimated that more than 1.2 million people are crammed into Tahir Square. And if even a small percentage of those people submitted a photo or video, then ownership would be shared.

Perhaps that’s how is should always be. But of course, that is still up for the people to decide.