CitJ for the unprivileged: community journalism

Posted by Carolyn Lo on March 10, 2008 at 3:04 PM

The term 'citizen journalism', which was coined to describe "the effort to encourage regular folk to use the Internet to report the news directly," according to the New York Times, isn't accurate.

Todd Wolfson, 35, one of the organizers of the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia is "uncomfortable" with the term 'citizen journalism.' "We prefer the term 'community journalism.'"

Wolfson's group and Juntos, an immigrant rights group, are teaching their communities to make video reports for streaming on the Internet. The Knight Foundation in Miami sponsored the classes with a $150,000 grant.

But as Wolfson pointed out, most people involved are neither US citizens, nor even legal residents.

One of the main issues at stake is "the digital divide," according to Wolfson. Poorer communities typically "are only passive receivers of what appears on the Internet," as they often lack the resources for online publishing. Through these video classes, Wolfson plans on creating opportunities for these communities to share their stories as well.

Source: The New York Times through IFRA Executive News Service