Citizen journalism Archive

  • Come the revolution, Sister – if we can afford it

    Come the revolution, Sister – if we can afford it

    Report by Alex Klaushofer. My last blog reported on the curious absence of women among the pioneers of digital journalism – a regressive trend seen by some as symptomatic as an emerging form of e-patriarchy. But hang on, isn’t the beauty of the digital age the new opportunities it opens up, the way it affords [...]

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  • New model journalism, old model sexism – do we need a new e-feminism?

    New model journalism, old model sexism – do we need a new e-feminism?

    Report by Alex Klaushofer. Over the two and a half years I’ve been researching emerging forms of media for New Model Journalism and the NUJ conference which preceded it, a question has been slowly pushing itself to the forefront of my mind. It feels a bit like that story about the emperor having no clothes, [...]

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  • Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism site Blottr

    Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism site Blottr

    Report by Alex Klaushofer. Since launching a little over a year ago, Blottr, or ‘the people powered news service’, has been growing exponentially. With regional sites covering eight UK cities including London and Leeds, Blottr has recently expanded overseas, launching sites in France and Germany. Its traffic is impressive – 1.6 million unique users a [...]

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  • News from your street served up by a ‘publishing visionary’

    News from your street served up by a ‘publishing visionary’

    Case study by Tim Dawson. Postcodegazette’s aim is to create a virtual newspaper for every street in Britain.  Using mobile technology to map the location of its audience, it focuses on news so local that readers are interested in cars being scratched and the exam results of neighbours’ children. Users of the service – which [...]

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  • Hard data shatters hyperlocal dream

    Hard data shatters hyperlocal dream

    Report by Alex Klaushofer. When hyperlocal publisher Chris Thomas was casting about for a topic for his postgraduate research, he decided to investigate some of the claims about the rise of hyperlocalism, and come up with some hard data about who is using them, and why. ‘There’s a lot of hype about hyperlocals, but there’s [...]

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  • Hyperlocalism – the next landgrab?

    Hyperlocalism – the next landgrab?

    Comment by Alex Klaushofer. If the rhetoric is to be believed, hyperlocalism is the most promising trend the digital age has brought journalism. There are now hundreds of websites around the country, bringing local communities unprecedented levels of news gathered by newly-empowered citizen journalists. With their scrutiny of the local and celebration of the particular, [...]

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  • Hyperlocal wins grant funding

    Hyperlocal wins grant funding

    The announcement yesterday that Blog Preston has won public funding is surely a sign of a growing recognition that hyperlocals have a key role to play in British media. The site, whose bid was made in partnership with other local organisations, is one of 16 community projects to have succeeded in the Neighbourhood Challenge run [...]

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  • Tweeting ’bout the revolution – the case of Tunisia

    Tweeting ’bout the revolution – the case of Tunisia

    The digital revolution has been meeting actual revolution over the past week in Tunisia. Users of social media are being credited with bringing about the downfall of President of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, reports National Public Radio in the States. Meanwhile. the authorities have been extending the usual means of suppressing unfavourable reporting by mainstream [...]

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  • C4′s Snow appeals for snow news from citizen journos

    C4′s Snow appeals for snow news from citizen journos

    Covering the chaos at Heathrow on this evening’s Channel 4 news, Jon Snow has appealed for passengers inside the airport to send footage and pix to the programme. Accredited journalists have been banned from filming inside the airport, which is owned by private operator BAA. Snow described the decision as a ‘deliberate policy’ to prevent [...]

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  • Which way for public policy journalism?

    Which way for public policy journalism?

    The publication of the government’s ‘transparency database’ this week is the latest policy change aimed at creating greater levels of transparency about public services and spending. But while, from the voter’s point of view, the availability of more data looks like an unqualified good, the state of public service reporting presents a more complicated picture [...]

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