1. Presentation
Bearing witness: Citizen
Journalism and Human Right
Issues (Allan et.al 2007)
Karki, R 2012
Week-3: MDIA5003

2. Summary of the Presentation
 The presentation will examines the emergent and
practices of citizen journalism with illustration from three
case studies: 2004 South Asian Tsunami, ii) human rights
abuses in India’s northeast, iii) the Palestinian Crisis in
the Occupied Territories.
 Each case study discusses: circumstances forcing
ordinary citizens to adopt the role of a journalist to provide
immediate update of a situation thus, providing more
human face to the story; varied interpretation, thereby
raising awareness on particular issue; highlights the
impact of eye-witness reporting (Allan 2006).
 There will be three parts to the presentation- examining
three case studies with relevant examples from
websites, video, blogs, etc.

3. 2004 South Asian Tsunami
 Trends of reporting from traditional news organisation and
the challenges faced during a major crisis in terms of the
limitations of reporters on the ground, immediate account
of the crisis (Schechter 2005).
 Emergence of Citizen Reporting in the wake of disaster in
the form of blogs, citizen news websites- platform to
support citizens, updating on the ground
realities, appealing for help and platform to share
information.
http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com.au/2004_12_26_archive.
html
 Several blog entries on the first hand account of the
Tsunami from Jaffna. http://tsunami-
tsunami2009.blogspot.com.au/2004/12/first-hand-story-
fred-roberts-in-jaffna.html

4. Major news organisations adopting the practices
of citizen journalism
 Guardian UK compiled blog entries from around the world recognising
the compeling story they make:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/dec/30/tsunami2004.features11
 Mainstream news organizations can and should do more to embrace
citizen journalism (Castells 2000).
 MSNBC.com has generated ‘citizen journalist report page; BBC News
Online, created space for survivors to post first person accounts,
photographs and video items of the Tsunami disaster; CNN, for eg:
has created ireporter where you can join and upload your own news
reports and video.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4146031.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4135141.stm
 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6766110/#.UBSyWzEe6Fc
 http://ireport.cnn.com/explore.jspa

5. Citizen Journalism in India
 The rise of citizen journalism in India via the Internet
whereby the civil society have been creating an
informational network enabling the coordination of
democratic campaign over human rights issues in North-
East India.
 Manipuronline.com, E-Pao.net, Kanglaonline.net and The
Sanghai Express were important websites are more a
platform for local human rights groups to form networks and
alliances nationally and internationally.
 Manipuronline acts as a platform to track the progress of
Sharmila- links to the blogs, background papers on the law,
reports by various agencies and a newsletter.
http://manipuronline.com/?s=Irom+sharmila+chanu

6. India: Continued
 Merinews.com: Launched in 2006: First Indian website
devoted to citizen journalism; won the Manthan Award
for publishing the best e-news content in India for the
year.
 It followed varied kinds of citizen-driven news
sites, whereby blogs followed- often used for
commenting and documenting human rights coverage.
 CNN-IBN: put up catch line – ‘you see it. You report it’.
http://cj.ibnlive.in.com/

7. Citizen Journalism in the occupied
Palestinian Territories:
 Citizen Journalism started in Occupied Palestinian Territories
(OPTs), with a desire to be engaged in public debate on war on
terrorisms, Iraq War, hardships of everyday life in OPTs and
worsening political situation.
 Electronic Intifada (EI) launched in 2001 is one of the most
influential English language website in OPTs started by round
activist who crossed paths in 1998 on a Palestinian email list.
 The significant section was section for Citizen Journalism called:
‘Diaries: Live from Palestnine’, launched in April 2002 (EI 2000).
This section soon became popular with citizens posting compelling
narratives of their everyday life struggle in the occupied territory.
http://electronicintifada.net/
 http://bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com.au/

8. Conclusion
 The new media has widened the traditional public sphere to a
globalised public sphere. This has allowed rooms of forming
informational and international networks nationally and
internationally for a greater cause such as forming alliances and
networking against human rights violations.
 Citizen Journalism thus has become active in the new media
where citizens are involved in demonstrating issues of their
concern to wider society beyond their physical and geographical
restrictions as seen from Palestine, India and Tsunami case
studies.
 The new media landscape has helped in the proliferation of citizen
journalism, which allows alternative perspectives and establishing
a principle of trust and humanities, thereby helping to counter
various forms of human rights issues and social exclusions.

9. Bibliography:
 Allan, S 2006, Online news: journalism and the Internet
, Maidenhead and New York, Open University Press.
 Castells, M 2000, The rise of network society (2nd
edn), Oxford, Blackwell.
 Electronic Intifida 2000, Introduction: the electronic
intifada, electronicintifida.net, 1 january.
 Outing, S 2011, Taking Tsunami Coverage into their own
hands, www.poytner.org.
 Schechter, D 2005, Helicopter journalism. Mediachannel.org. 5
January 2005.
 http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com.au/2004_12_26_archive.html
 http://tsunami-tsunami2009.blogspot.com.au/2004/12/first-
hand-story-fred-roberts-in-jaffna.html

10. Bibliography
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4146031.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4135141.stm
 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6766110/#.UBSyWzEe6Fc
 http://ireport.cnn.com/explore.jspa
 http://manipuronline.com/?s=Irom+sharmila+chanu
 http://cj.ibnlive.in.com/
 http://www.merinews.com/
 http://electronicintifada.net/
 http://bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com.au

11. Thank You !