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Citizen Journalism &

Youth Media

A collaboration between OSI and Bloomfield College (USA)

What we have in common

What we have in common• The OSI Youth Initiative “seeks to empower youth to become active

citizens willing and able to influence public life and to promote open society ideals.”



• Citizen Journalism = news, media, and information, created by citizens, not necessarily for professional or profit-oriented purposes. The intention is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.



• Citizen Journalism = news, media, and information, created by citizens, not necessarily for professional or profit-oriented purposes. The intention is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.

• Bloomfield College’s mission = “to prepare students to attain academic, personal and professional excellence in a multicultural and global society, enabling students — particularly those who have traditionally been excluded from higher education — to obtain the skills, knowledge, and values they need to become empowered, active individuals engaged in renewing themselves, their relationships, their workplaces, and their communities.”

What do we do?

What do we do?

• IDEA and Bloomfield College co-sponsor and coordinate the annual International Debate and Citizen Journalism Institute, to be held this summer in Dikilli, Turkey, as well as other similar projects and workshops.

What do we do?


• Bloomfield College awards college credits to participating students.

What do we do?


• Bloomfield College awards college credits to participating students.

• The Creative Arts & Technology program at Bloomfield College provides the training in new media technologies, working hand-in-hand with the institute’s journalism program component.

Getting the Message Out• “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own

one.” — A.J. Liebling

Getting the Message Out

• Citizen Journalism empowers youth to create information that the mainstream media is failing to provide, or to present a social or political cause through journalistic means.

• “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” — A.J. Liebling

Getting the Message Out

• Citizen Journalism empowers youth to create information that the mainstream media is failing to provide, or to present a social or political cause through journalistic means.

• “Publishing” their reporting to the wider world is now possible without being rich, but they still need skills in the latest new media technologies in order to be effective.

• “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” — A.J. Liebling

Digital Technology Timeline


• 1984: Apple Macintosh introduced. Philips and Sony introduce CD-ROM technology.



• 1985: Killer app “Pagemaker” and Apple LaserWriter printer make desktop publishing possible.




• early 1990s: explosion in online publishing and a rush to digitize print materials.





• 1997: DVD discs and players become commercially available.






• 1998: MP-3 players for downloaded Internet audio appear.


• 1991: An early World Wide Web (WWW) system is released by CERN to the high energy physics community. HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) initial draft.



• 1992: Apple debuts QuickTime, Adobe offers PDF 1.0




• 1993: CERN releases the World Wide Web into the public domain. Mosaic, first graphical browser for the web, is introduced.





• 1993: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






• 1993: [email protected]





• 1999: Google search engine is launched.



• 2000: in six months the number of web sites doubles from 10 to 20 million




• 2001: first iPods released.





• 2004: the number of blogs passes the million mark






• 2005: debut of YouTube







• 2007: (March) 1.114 billion people using the Internet.







• 2007: (March) 1.114 billion people using the Internet.

• 2008: Barack Obama wins Democratic nomination for president of the U.S. thanks in part to his sophisticated use of Web 2.0 technologies.

Technology & Wealth

Technology & Wealth• Commercial software such as

Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and Microsoft Office can cost from $200 to $700.



• Open source software and free web-based editors provide an alternative that puts the power of publishing in everyone’s hands.



• Open source software and free web-based editors provide an alternative that puts the power of publishing in everyone’s hands.

• Falling costs for web hosting, ftp sites, e-mail accounts, etc. are drastically shrinking the “digital divide” between rich and poor.

Skills Still Needed

Skills Still Needed

• Yes, the tools are cheaper, but you still need the same skills to communicate effectively.

Skills Still Needed

• Yes, the tools are cheaper, but you still need the same skills to communicate effectively.

• Journalism requires skills and experience in research, interviewing, story structure and genres, writing for the ear, editing, and point of view.

Skills Still Needed

Skills Still Needed• Photography requires skill in

choosing subject matter, in camera operation, lighting, image composition, getting the photos onto the computer, photo selection, and digital image manipulation.

Skills Still Needed• Photography requires skill in

choosing subject matter, in camera operation, lighting, image composition, getting the photos onto the computer, photo selection, and digital image manipulation.

• Audio requires skill in setting up recording conditions, choosing and operating recording devices, coaching the speakers, getting the audio onto the computer, and digital audio editing.

Skills Still Needed

Skills Still Needed• Video requires skill in pre-

production planning, coaching performers, operating cameras, lights, and microphones, importing video to the computer, digitally editing video, and choosing output options.

Skills Still Needed• Video requires skill in pre-

production planning, coaching performers, operating cameras, lights, and microphones, importing video to the computer, digitally editing video, and choosing output options.

• Final projects can require combining and synchronizing text and images and audio and video.

Skills Still Needed

Skills Still Needed• Distribution of print documents

requires page layout skills, knowledge of paper and print formats, and often the ability to communicate with commercial offset printers.

Skills Still Needed• Distribution of print documents

requires page layout skills, knowledge of paper and print formats, and often the ability to communicate with commercial offset printers.

• Distribution over the Internet requires web design skills, knowledge of file formats for each media type, experience with dynamic Web 2.0 possibilities, and the ability to maintain and update what you have created.

Towards a Project-Based

Workbook


Workbook• Writing and media skills are merely the tools of the

citizen journalist



citizen journalist

• This summer we are starting to gather all of our teaching materials together into a workbook to be published by IDEA.



citizen journalist

• This summer we are starting to gather all of our teaching materials together into a workbook to be published by IDEA.

• Goal = how-to book, but centered around real-world projects.

Why We Do It

Why We Do It• Our students are not typically middle class, not

predominantly white, and certainly not well traveled.

Why We Do It• Our students are not typically middle class, not

predominantly white, and certainly not well traveled.

• They are eager for global connections but also have grown up in the American mass media cocoon, isolated from knowledge about the rest of the world.

Why We Do It

Why We Do It

• Our college’s goal is to make our students better global citizens.

Why We Do It

• Our college’s goal is to make our students better global citizens.

• We want Bloomfield College students to return to the United States with a broader vision, greater political awareness, and the motivation to become more involved in grassroots American politics.

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News & Politics

osi youth initiative

active citizens willing

inuence public life

open society ideals

relevant information

bloomeld college usa

protoriented purposes