WORLD CLASS INITIATIVE
Project Laboratory
Project Seven – Citizen Journalism
Writing and reporting about our world by empowering citizens to report on it.
Our Vision
One goal of our Scientist Network (see Project Six) is to provide a venue for citizen reporter stories on local environmental issues. Reporters will be able to upload photographs and video clips as well as written stories.
Those not interested in reporting original stories will also have the ability to recommend and comment on content produced by other contributors. Today, sites such as Slashdot, Reddit, Newsvine and Digg share content from all over the Web and allow readers to collectively rank stories by importance or level of interest.
As Dan Gillmor, Director of the Center for Citizen Media, says:
“We blog, we explain, we annotate the Web, we discuss and
we tell stories. As a result... communities are created.”
Our Goals
To provide an online venue for Citizen Reporters to create stories on local environmental and energy issues.
To work with other globally-focused organizations engaged in first-hand reporting and global conversations, as exemplified by:
– Global Voices Online, a non-profit global citizens’ media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society
– OneWorldTV, a unique public platform for filmmakers, video journalists, NGO’s and just about anyone with a video camera and an interest in social issues
– Translation services such as Babel Fish or film translator dotSUB where volunteers translate media into any of 200 other languages.