Updated bibliography of civic & citizen journalism

Sue Ellen Christian of Western Michigan University has updated CCJIG’s bibliography with more than three dozen new titles relevant to public/participatory journalism published in the last few months. Sue Ellen started this project in 2008, when she served as the CCJIG research chair. The bibliography is available as a hyperlinked Web page and a printer-friendly PDF.

Please add to and edit the list by e-mailing your suggestions to CCJIG webmaster Jeff South.

Non-members, come say hello in Boston!

To acquaint non-members with our group, Nikhil Moro has posted a brief profile on CCJIG’s blog. Please check it out. We look forward to seeing new faces at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in August.

Q&A with Len Witt on Sustainable Journalism

Leonard Witt, a veteran of the public journalism movement, has received a multi-year gift totaling $1.5 million from New York’s Harnisch Foundation to start a Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University, located in suburban Atlanta. In this interview with Civic & Citizen Journalism Interest Group chair Nikhil Moro conducted via Skype messages, a self-assured Witt lays out his plans for the Center and elucidates some premises of sustainable journalism. ...

We're No. 1 - AEJMC's biggest interest group

Nikhil Moro reports:

CCJIG has emerged as AEJMC’s largest interest group in 2008-09. We have 116 registered members of whom 57 are female; six identify themselves as African-American, two as Asian-American, and twelve as International.

Our program for the 2009 Boston convention

I am happy to report that the Civic & Citizen Journalism Interest Group was able accommodate nearly all of the panels proposed for Boston, thanks to vice-chair Mary Beth Callie’s diligence.

The process depends on lining up co-sponsors for panels –– we got some excellent collaborators. CCJIG’s Boston convention program:

a. AEJMC Pre-convention, Tuesday August 4.

i. 1-4 p.m. (updated time!), “Citizen Journalism and Media Literacy in the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks” (CCJIG and COMJIG). This conference/workshop will bring together scholars of media literacy and citizen/community journalism to critically examine the practices and semiotics of south Mumbai’s blogger-reporters during the terrorist strikes of November 27-29, 2008. The goal is to highlight some key critical skills for audiences of citizen journalism to analyze and evaluate citizen messages for bias, accuracy, and fairness in times of crisis, in order to facilitate both an educated citizenry and high quality citizen journalism. Event contact: Nikhil Moro, moro1nm@cmich.edu.

ii. 4-10 p.m (updated time!), “Journalism Jobs in a Digital Age.” This conference will address questions such as: Will journalism students, will journalists, find work in the future, and if so, will it be in traditional forms of journalism or in emerging or altogether new venues? Where precisely will the jobs be? And what skills will our students need? How will they be paid for the work they do? What will the journalism ecosystem be like? What will be the challenges to producing ethically sound, high quality journalism? What instructional adjustments must be made? The conference will be developed by the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication (currently held by Leonard Witt) and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Event contact: Leonard Witt, lwitt@kennesaw.edu.

b. AEJMC Convention, Wednesday August 5.

i. 8.15-9.45 a.m., “Has the Civic/Citizen Movement Brought Journalism Full Circle?” (CCJIG and History). America’s earliest printer-editors, such as Benjamin Harris, James Franklin and Benjamin Franklin, who lived in Boston, were apparently community activists more than they were editors. They were not J-school trained in reporting, pagination, or ethics. But they invariably had a finger on their readers’ pulse, an ear close to their audience's chest. Today, as America’s loftiest legacy media organizations increasingly embrace a YouTubization –– harnessing the collective intelligence of their former audiences –– to keep the news accurate, cheap and exciting, is it an indication that journalism has come full circle from the era of Harris and the Franklins? If yes, in what ways? Those are the questions this research panel will examine. Panel contact: Nikhil Moro, moro1nm@cmich.edu.

ii. 10-11.30 a.m., “Helping Rural Journalists Better Serve Their Communities” (COMJIG and CCJIG). This PFR panel will explore university-based training programs and projects designed to help rural journalists better serve their communities. Several could become prototypes for programs across the country. Panel contact: Elizabeth Hansen, liz.hansen@eku.edu.

iii. 11.45 a.m.-1.15 p.m., “Reinventing Journalism: Anatomy of a One-Year Applied Field Experiment” (CCJIG and COMJIG). This PFR panel will discuss the one-year Representative Journalism field experiment in Northfield, MN, as seen through the lens of Leonard Witt, who conceived the idea, Shayla Tiel-Stern, who observed it as a researcher, Bonnie Obremski, who worked as the journalist/fellow, and Griff Wigley, who participated as a community member. Panel contact: Leonard Witt, lwitt@kennesaw.edu.

iv. 5-6.30 p.m., “Journalists and Law Enforcement: Rights versus Security” (CCJIG and Law & Policy). This research panel will discuss how the tension between law enforcement authorities and the press has significant concerns for the development of both the practical and theoretical development of citizen-focused journalism in the United States. Panel contact: Burton St. John, bsaintjo@odu.edu.

c. AEJMC Convention, Thursday August 6.

i. 8.15-9.45 a.m. Refereed research paper session, with presentations of four or five of the submitted papers accepted after blind review.

ii. 1.30-3 p.m. Scholar-to-Scholar session, with presentations of six to eight of the submitted papers accepted after blind review.

iii. 6.45-8.15 p.m. Joint meeting of CCJIG and COMJIG members until 7.30 p.m., followed by a separate meeting of CCJIG members to elect officers for 2009-10. Finally, all depart for an optional off-site social.

d. AEJMC Convention, Friday August 7.

i. 12.15-1.30 p.m., J-Lab Luncheon Panel on “Civic News Networks: Collaboration vs. Competition?” (CCJIG, CoA, and COMJIG). This PFR panel will explore whether “scoop” is disappearing from the vernacular of newsrooms. As a response to shrinking newsrooms, costly Associated Press fees, and an emerging culture of collaboration and participatory media, regional news organizations around the country are starting to build innovative consortiums for sharing content on a statewide or regular basis. Participants see it as a win-win: Securing additional feet on the street, broader distribution of their content, less “me, too” duplication of reporting. How is the public served? And can the public participate? Panel contact: Jan Schaefer, jans@j-lab.org.

ii. 1.45-3.15 p.m., “Common Health, Commonwealth: Public Understanding, Problem-solving, and Action” (CCJIG and Newspaper). This PFR panel will examine journalistic, nonprofit, and governmental efforts to inform and educate the American public about healthcare reform at the state and national levels. Panelists will focus on coverage of mandated health insurance in Massachusetts, State Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion (SCHIP) in Colorado, and national healthcare reform during the presidential campaign. Panel contact: Mary Beth Callie, mcallie@regis@edu.

iii. 3.30-5 p.m., “The Journalism Academy and the News Media’s Quest for a Digital-Age Business Model: Who Speaks for Ethics and the Public Good?” (CCJIG and Media Ethics). This PFR panel will explore the educational, professional, and ethical challenges of the digital era. Panelists will examine whether the journalism academy, frequently in tandem with other academic disciplines, can and/or should spire to a significant measure of influence on the design, values, goals, priorities, and direction of mainline and alternative media in the digital age. Panel contact: Ed Lambeth, lambethe@missouri.edu.

e. AEJMC Convention, Saturday August 8.

i. 1.30-3 p.m., “World View: International Efforts to Teach Civic and Citizen Journalism” (CCJIG and International Communication; thanks to Community College Journalism Association for the donation of a half-chip!). This teaching panel will explore the theories and skills that are being taught by journalism schools and nonprofit groups, outside the United States, which have launched efforts to teach civic or citizen journalism. Panel contact: Jeff South, jcsouth@vcu.edu.

Boston, here we come!

Nikhil Moro, Ph.D.
Chair, Civic & Citizen Journalism Interest Group.

'Past, Present and Future' of Civic/Citizen Journalism

The web videos of the three incredible panels on "The Past, Present and Future of Civic/Citizen Journalism," held at Columbia College Chicago on Aug. 5, 2008, are online now, for your viewing pleasure. 

These are interesting to watch and would work well in class or as homework, to get discussion going. In brief:

Civic/Public Journalism featuring Jack Rosenberry as moderator, Ed Lambeth, Mark Deuze, Burton St. James and Jay Rosen (see the site for their affiliations, etc.) looks at where Civic Journalism came from and what issues and problems are important today in civic and citizen journalism. Mark Deuze raises questions about disconnect between the conditions of employment of reporters today and the larger ethical and democratic aims of Journalism, among other timely issues.

In the Meet the Press panel, you hear from Adrian Holovaty who is doing journalistic data mining, the publishers of Chicagotalks, a non-profit news website, and beachwoodreporter, a for-profit media critique and media news site, all based in Chicago.

"They Blog for Change" is a great panel for students. The panelists (Jeff Jarvis joins us via conference call) reveal how you have to blog to really understand its benefits, including gaining technical proficiency, becoming an expert, and more. 

Barbara K. Iverson
drbarb on twitter
http://currentbuzz.org
http://chicagotalks.org

ODU's Public Journalism students get published

HamptonRoads.com is publishing stories written by undergraduate students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. The stories are generated by a workshop class, called Public Journalism in the Digital Age, taught by CCJIG board member Burton St. John. The class bridges fundamental concepts of journalism with key citizen-focused precepts of the public/civic journalism movement.

The Hampton Roads portal, which hosts the online version of The Virginian-Pilot, has created a section called "Student Voices." In December, it published two stories by St. John's students:

It’s Not Just Studying Anymore: Life in the Navy ROTC
By Krysten Warren

The Quiet Side of Sex
By Ashley Jarvis

Here are other stories that have emerged from the Public Journalism in the Digital Age course.

The class provides students tools and guidance so that they can identify a civic issue, seek out both official and citizen voices and then compose a story.

Join the discussion -- on the CCJIG blog

We've created a blog to discuss issues about civic and citizen journalism.

Abstracts of convention papers

2008 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2008 AEJMC Convention in Chicago

2007 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2007 AEJMC Convention, in Washington, D.C.

2006 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2006 AEJMC Convention, in San Francisco

2005 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2005 AEJMC Convention, in San Antonio

2004 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2004 AEJMC Convention, in Toronto

2003 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2003 AEJMC Convention, in Kansas City

2002 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2002 AEJMC Convention, in Miami Beach, Florida.

2001 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2001 AEJMC Convention in Washington, D.C.

2000 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 2000 AEJMC Convention in Phoenix

1999 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 1999 AEJMC Convention in New Orleans

1998 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 1998 AEJMC Convention in Baltimore

1997 Paper Abstracts: Presented at the 1997 AEJMC Convention in Chicago

Archive of previous announcements