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stevegarfield.com
Video blogger Steve Garfield, one of the experts interviewed in a new documentary on citizen journalism. |
Citizen Journalism: from Pamphlet to Blog is a new 15-minute citizen-produced documentary that takes a quick, informative look at the the genesis and current state of citizen journalism.
The project started this past May with a class
sponsored by Cambridge (MA) Community Television. It contains several interviews filmed in and around the Boston area, as well as interviews filmed at the Media Giraffe Project conference, held June 2006 at the University of Massachusetts.
Taking a wide-angle view of the citizen journalism phenomenon, the documentary looks at the genesis of citizen journalism in the pamphleteers of the 18th century (most notably Thomas Paine), through the 'zine movement of the late 20th century, and into its current form online in blogs.
Featured are some of he most recognizable names in citizen journalism: Lisa Williams of H2Otown, Ethan Zuckerman of Global Voices Online, consummate video blogger Steve Garfield, as well as a number of others who are doing their part for the citizen journalism movement.
The filmmakers are also careful to point out that while there is widespread interest in citizen
journalism, the remains a "digital divide" between those who have access to and time for technology and those who don't -- as well as the limitations of time, power and money faced by citizen journalists.
Watch the film at the Project Documentary blog and on Blip TV
Feedback on this project is welcome. You can leave comments at the Project Documentary blog.
