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/