January 03, 2007

Citizen Journalism as it Should Be

For a long time now we've been hearing how citizen journalists were positioned to take on the old media. And from time to time we've had our moments. But our main use has been in media criticism, not independent reporting. Until now.

Quite a few bloggers are already reporting from the field--giving firsthand, unfiltered (by an outside editor) accounts of conditions on the ground around the world. I'm proud to say that I know most of these people.

First off, we have Bill from INDC reporting from Fallujah.

But don't let my leading drama monopolize you: it's almost odd how "normal" operations seem here, with folks just doing their jobs, calmly and professionally. The food is good and morale seems high. The number one answer to "How do you like being a Marine?" is "I love it, sir."

Michelle will be heading to Iraq too. Her goals:

1) to report on how the troops perceive mainstream media coverage of the war (with a particular focus on the wire services relying on local stringers); and

2) to report on progress and interaction between U.S. troops and Iraqi Army trainees.

Michelle was also able to get Eason Jordan to foot the bill for Curt at Flopping Aces and Bryan of Hot Air (formerly of the Junkyard Blog, now run by former Jawa writer SeeDub). I've been in contact with these two fine bloggers since I first hit the radar screen way back when many thought it was anathema to show videos and images of the brutality of the jihadis we fight. Both are hard hitting, take no prisoners journalists--like what Mike Wallace would be if he were a blogger, conservative, and not insane. Good luck.

Next, Mike Totten returns to Lebanon. As usual, he heads to Hezbollahland:

One group of tents in a parking lot across from the Hariri mosque were all made of black canvas. What’s up with the black tents, I wondered. So I walked over and lifted my camera to my face.

Five ear-pieced Hezbollah agents aggressively pounced on me at once. They surrounded me and screamed “No!” Then they physically pushed me away from the tents and got in my face so I could not see behind them.

A story like this would likely not have gotten through the editorial process. First because both journalists and editors are trained to make it seem as if a story conists of "objective facts" and not merely a journalists viewpoint. Second, because journalists and editors are trained to take the journalist out of the story--third person is the voice, with the corollary of pretending the events were viewed from outside and not inside.

Last, one of my first collaborators at the Jawa Report reports from the Darfur refugee camps in Chad. As you know, he's making a documentary about Darfur. Go check out his progress at the Christmas in Darfur blog. Here's a taste:

For the next two hours we were on the rockiest, bumpiest, craziest ride of our lives. It was something straight out of a video game, but much less pleasant when you’re riding in the back, periodically banging your head against the roof. The sites were plentiful: small villages, camels, French military convoys, busses with more bags tied to the roof than people inside, Chadian military vehicles (Toyota pick-ups) with cloth sacks of RPGs on either side and a dozen camouflaged-turbin-wearing troops stacked in the bed.