newsparticipation is an online community where citizen journalism is recognized and fostered

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  • 8/3/2019 NewsParticipation is an online community where citizen journalism is recognized and fostered

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    NewsParticipationisanonlinecommunitywherecitizenjournalismisrecognizedandfostered

    Thesiteshowcasestheworkofamateurandprofessionaljournalistsseekinganopenforumforpostingnewsdispatchesandcommentary.Thesiteisalsoavehiclefordiscussionaboutcriticalnewstopics.

    Randolph,MA--Itisincreasinglycommonforindividual,first-handaccountsofbreakingnewstobesharedonline.However,thesecriticalpostsandconversationsremainscatteredacrosstheweb.NewsParticipationoffersasinglesitewheresuchworkscanbepublished,andwherepeoplecanaccessinformationtoeducatethemselvesandeachotheronabroadrangeofcontemporaryissues.

    Theneedforcitizenjournalismhasbecomeincreasinglyurgent.Mainstreammediaisoftentoocloselytiedtospecialintereststogivefairandcompletecoveragetotheimportanteventsofourtime.Withoutunbiasedinformation,thebodypoliticremainsunder-educated,andunabletoparticipateinaproductivepublicdiscourse.Thisdearthofparticipationiscontributingtoapersistentignoranceaboutcurrentevents,andresultinginthedeteriorationofourrepresentation

    ingovernment.

    Itisourhopethatthisforumwillfostercitizenengagement,andbuildacollectiveknowledgefreeofmainstreamnewsbiases-thatwillultimatelyenablepeopletodirectlyinfluencegovernmentaction.

    Webelievethatwhencitizenjournalistscancometogether,acommonvoicewillemergeonethatwillbedifficulttoignore.NewsParticipationaimstobetheunitedvoicewithwhichindividualscanspeakand,together,beheardloudandclear.

    Themediathesedaysiscontrolledbyspecialinterestsandthenewsitbringstothepeopleareabout90%doctoredandpreparedtorepresentorprotecttheint

    erestsofthesespecialinterests.Thesespecialinterestscouldbebusinesses,politicians,religionsetcandwhenthenewswegetaredoctoredtorepresenttheseinterests,thecitizensareleftconfusedanduneducatedaboutwhatgoeson.

    Beforenow,thecitizenshavenomeansoftellingtheirownstoriesevenwhentheyknowthatthestoriestheygetinthemediaarefalse.Theyareforcedtodiscussinfrustrationamongthesmallgroupstheycanformwhichcannotmakeanydifference.Thissituationmakesmisinformationofthepopulacepossiblebecausewhentheonlyinformationthepeoplegetiswronginformation,atsomepointthey'llstarttobelieveit.

    Newsparticipation.comisaboutfosteringcitizenjournalism.Basically,itisa

    websitewhereanybodyandeverybodycangoandtelltheirstories.Thismakesituniqueinthesensethatthenewswillbecomingfromtheproverbialhorses'mouthsandnotfromsomesecondhandsourcewhereitcouldbetaintedbyideologiesandpoliticslikethemainstreammedia.

    Newsparticipationgivesthecitizenstheopportunitytoreclaimthediscoursefromthepoliticallyandideologicallymotivatedmediathatcontrolitatthemoment.Everycitizenwithavideoorstillcameracaneasilytelltheirstorytoeithercontradict,complementorcorroboratethemainstreammediastories.Thiscouldbeassimpleasaimingavideocameraatyourselfwhileyouspeakabouthowaparticularpolicybyyournational,stateorlocalgovernmentaffectsyou,orasinvolvedasmakingafulllengthdocumentaryaboutthesameissue.

    Anotherqualityofthiswebsiteisthatitwilltakejournalisticcoveragetoplaceswhereitwouldnotbepossibleformainstreammediatocoverduetolackofresourcesand,orspecialinterestexpediency.Thiswillensurethatnostoryi

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    sleftuntoldascitizensnowhavethewherewithaltobringthesestoriestotheworld.

    SomepeopleaskifthisisnotjustduplicatingtheworksofsiteslikeYouTubeandVimeobuttheanswerisno.Itisnotbecausethosesitesprovideajumbleofallsortsofvideos,bothfromprofessionalfilmmakersandotherwise,withallsortsofmessagesfromentertainmenttosports,tothefrivolous.NewsParticip

    ation,ontheotherhand,isstrictlynewsandinformationvideosfromeverydaypeoplewhojustwanttobeheardintheschemeofthingsandsimplyvoicetheirthoughtsonvideoandupload.

    NewsparticipationprovidestherightplatformwherepeoplecanconfidentlytelltheirstoriesknowingthatitwillnotbeswallowedupandhiddenbythedistractionsthattakeupmuchofsiteslikeYouTubeandVimeo.

    Contact:BoodieUgwumbaNewsParticipation.comRandolph,MA

    [email protected]://www.newsparticipation.com