5 tools Storyful recommends for social media monitoring and verification | Media news

The number of open-source tools and platforms that have emerged to help contextualise and verify information from social media has been one of the biggest developments in journalism in recent years.

"People are realising now that there's a wealth of sources and information out there to help you do a different type of journalism, and it allows stories to emerge from regions that may otherwise not have had that reportage or coverage," explained Malachy Brown, news editor at Storyful.

www.journalism.co.uk/news/5-tools-storyful-recommends-for-social-media-monitoring-and-verification/s2/a563015

A Lens to the Front | Roads & Kingdoms

Ahmed uses a small camera to shoot so he can easily dive in the rapid changes of scenario at the frontline. In this instance, he was being shot at in the middle of the night. And though Carini meets with photojournalists like Ahmed every day, he was still overwhelmed. 

Carini is the editor-in-chief of Metrography, the first and only independent photo agency in Iraq. Founded in 2009, the organization covers all 18 of Iraq's governorates from Al-Basra to Zakho. But its philosophy lies within its recruits: They're local, young, and have a deep-rooted knowledge of the country. Its members speak Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Turkmen, and dozens of local dialects.

roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/a-lens-to-the-front

News Shooter | How to get ahead in video journalism – 10 tips for starting out from Webby award winner Pete Pattisson

In 2000 I got my first photos published in a magazine. Fourteen years later I won a Webby Award for my film exposing the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup.

Along the way I've learned a few things about what it takes to succeed (or at least survive) as a freelance video journalist. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I hope one or two of these tips may be helpful to some of you trying to break in to this most competitive of fields. 

www.newsshooter.com/2014/09/08/how-to-get-ahead-in-video-journalism-10-tips-for-starting-out-from-webby-award-winner-pete-pattisson

In danger and "on their own": The perils of freelance war reporting

In danger and "on their own": The perils of freelance war reporting

The execution of freelance journalist James Foley in Syria last week has brought new attention to stark realities of life as a freelance reporter covering conflicts in Syria and across the Middle East.

As they share poignant memories of a friend and colleague, many in the journalism community are urging a deeper consideration of the relationship between freelancers and news outlets publishing their work and a better understanding of the risks independent journalists take on to report from dangerous regions.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-danger-and-on-their-own-the-perils-of-freelance-war-reporting/

The 'World's Finest Citizen Journalist' Is Covering Iraq In Amazing Ways, And Plans To Expand His Website

The 'World's Finest Citizen Journalist' Is Covering Iraq In Amazing Ways, And Plans To Expand His Website

A Kickstarter funded citizen journalist site is making huge strides in its first two weeks of operation.

In the past week alone, Bellingcat claims to have located the spot where US photojournalist James Foley met his death, an ISIS training camp, and the true perpetrators of the 2013 Syrian sarin gas attacks in Damascus.

It's due largely the efforts of a former UK government admin worker named Eliot Higgins, who, since he was laid off in 2012, has been more commonly known online as "Brown Moses".

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-worlds-best-armchair-journalist-brown-moses-is-cashed-up-and-expanding-with-a-new-website-2014-8

‘Bellingcat’ Kickstarter Campaign Seeks to Unite Investigative Citizen Journalists

'Bellingcat' Kickstarter Campaign Seeks to Unite Investigative Citizen Journalists

Citizen journalism is more prevalent than ever with the upsurge in social media platforms. Now that so much information is available at our fingertips, it seems that reporters — both formally trained and novice — are even hungrier for accurate news.

A crowdfunding campaign by a man named Eliot Higgins has the goal of bringing together citizen journalists who are curious about hard news issues through an open-source website. His vision is for contributors all over the world to continue coverage of "Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan, Nigeria, Jihadists, Shia armed groups, the UK phone hacking scandal, police corruption, and more," he wrote on Kickstarter.

http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/bellingcat-kickstarter-campaign-seeks-to-unite-investigative-citizen-journalists_b28333

Citizen Journalists Collaboratively Map Conflict in Ukraine

Citizen Journalists Collaboratively Map Conflict in Ukraine

As technology changes, so do our abilities to engage in meaningful ways. In the case of the conflict in Ukraine, one of those ways is through the mapping of eventful incidents on LiveUAMap.com.

Citizen journalists began using the map, running on a platform created by a software team in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, after the ouster of former pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych. Contributions to the site are coded in red (for events favoring Russia and its supporters) and blue (for those on the side of Ukraine and its supporters). Twitter provides much of the avenue for input to allow for the recording of deaths, bombings, fires, and arrests. Photographs that illustrate the conflict, also taken by citizen journalists, are also included.

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/24575-citizen-journalists-collaboratively-map-conflict-in-ukraine.html

3 Lessons Citizen Journalists Should Learn from BuzzFeed’s Plagiarism Scandal

3 Lessons Citizen Journalists Should Learn from BuzzFeed's Plagiarism Scandal

Last Friday, BuzzFeed fired "Viral Politics" editor Benny Johnson. The popular internet time-waster cited over 40 instances of plagiarism committed by the conservative-leaningcontent creator.

Putting aside whether those alleged instances of plagiarism were actually plagiarism, and ignoring the fact that BuzzFeed itself is based on taking stuff from all over the internet (aggregation, anyone?), what lessons can we learn from this episode?

http://watchdogwire.com/blog/2014/07/29/lessons-citizen-journalists-learn-buzzfeeds-plagiarism-scandal/

Citizen Journalists in Mexico Risking Death to Expose Cartels, Corruption and Media Blackout

Citizen Journalists in Mexico Risking Death to Expose Cartels, Corruption and Media Blackout

A team from Breitbart Texas traveled deep into the Gulf cartel-controlled city of Reynosa, Mexico to meet with one of the citizen journalists leading the effort. In a small secret room deep in the heart of this Mexican city, Breitbart Texas spoke with a man who lives under constant threats because of his effort to use social media in alerting his fellow citizens about "situations of risk". For security reasons, the man known as "Chuy" never shows his face on social media, but his twitter handle @MrCruzstar, has become synonymous with exposing information about the confrontations between the criminal organizations, the cartel members' names, their locations, and corruption in the government. "Chuy" can be seen only from behind in the Breitbart Texas video and he wore a ski mask in an effort to protect his identity.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/07/30/Citizen-Journalists-in-Mexico-Risking-Lives-to-Fight-Cartels-and-Government-Corruption/

How to succeed as a video journalist | Philip Bloom

PHILIP: I have been a journalist for 25 years, 17 of those were working as a news cameraman in some bloody awful places but covering some incredibly important stories.

Just how important people like Christian (who has written the guest blog post below) are must not be underestimated. Without people like him and the countless others working in TV news risking their lives to make sure what needs to be told is told we would live in the dark ages and some of the most desperate plights of man, the injustices,  would never be highlighted and we would remain ignorant.

Yes, some TV news programmes are biased and their journalism can, at times  be questionable but I am a firm believer that these are in the minority. UK TV news for example is forbidden to be politically biased, unlike UK newspapers, although in reality it's not as easy as that. Anyway this is for a different post.

philipbloom.net/2014/07/30/how-to-succeed-as-a-video-journalist