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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Teaching the New Cohort: Media Literacy & Citizen Journalists

Ana Zovko by Ana Zovko 0 comments

Media pic New technology and massive platforms for communication have brought out the journalist in everyone. The ability to report on stories when they happen, as they happen, has created a global cohort of ‘citizen journalists.’

Here’s a problem: With little to no formal journalism training, some ‘citizen journalists’ may not always be the ideal source for accurate reporting. “We face the ‘Balloon Boy’ stories of today,” as our 2010 Journalism Matters Essay Contest winner, Liz Medhin, WHAM (Rochester, NY) wrote. The “Balloon Boy” story was a tale made up by a man seeking publicity: he falsely said his young son was adrift in a hot-air balloon and the media covered it like crazy.

Media training was the subject of a recent report published by the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), “Media Literacy: Citizen Journalists.” In the report, author and expert on media literacy, Susan Moeller, makes recommendations for media development projects aimed at citizen journalists. Download a copy of the report here.

Photo courtesy of whiteafrican.

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