Saturday, February 4, 2012

A Discussion of Citizen Journalism

Starts: Saturday, February 4th 2012 at 10:00 am
Ends: Saturday, February 4th 2012 at 12:00 pm

“Citizen Journalism” is a loaded phrase, one that people in the news business have come to loathe or love. Connecticut SPJ will host a discussion on acts of journalism by citizens at a program co-hosted by The Register Citizen at its newsroom in Torrington.
We want to engage journalists and citizens alike in a dialogue about the role the public now plays in news production, and ways that both groups can strive to uphold journalistic and ethical standards in the process.
Guest Speakers:
Andy Sellars, staff attorney, Citizen Media Law Project
Ed McKeon, past editor, Middletown Eye
Matt DeRienzo, group editor Journal Register Co.
Location:
The Register Citizen’s Newsroom Cafe
59 Field St.
Torrington, CT 06790

Video replay of the event, here.

13 comments:

  1. I hope there will be a follow-up about this meeting. Sounds exciting! Go Citizen Journalism!

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  2. You can actually watch it livestream and follow a chat from the meeting here: http://registercitizen.com/articles/2012/02/04/news/doc4f2c16c7bd908431204836.txt

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  3. Hey Bill Wilson Get your facts straight! What did former Governor Jodi Rell do while in office? She raised all of the state fees for residents and Rowland was just as corrupt. That is just like a tax increase but you and the Republicans won't call it that. Both of them brought the state into financial ruin. The state had a surplus for a long time and then 4 years ago while Rell was governor we find out CT had a deficit. The state was doing fine before Rowland/Rell became Governor. The Republicans occupied the Governor's Office for 15 years and what did that do for Connecticut? Deficits & Corruption. It was during the Republican Administrations people started calling Connecticut "Corrupticut." Save all of your misguided beliefs for your public access shows that nobody watches.

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  4. Here is a great quote from Ed from this panel: “People in power would like to do things in secret. The more eyes that are looking, the better it is. … You don't need to be that brave to set up a meeting or report the facts of a meeting. It's really important that we do work together to make sure that our eyes are on what is happening and how its happening.” I only caught about twenty minutes of this so I can't give a more full review of the event. (thanks M.P. for posting about the live stream so I was able to catch a little of this).

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  5. When did people who know how to type on a computer keyboard get classified as "journalists"? Call them what they are - they are bloggers who write as a hobby and cannot replace trained, professional, seasoned journalists who are ethically required to be objective.

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  6. I'm waiting for Citizen Doctors so I can save on my healthcare.

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  7. They didn't. When bitter people who think they are important think it is their duty to push their agendas on the public for example an angry blogger who thought it was his duty to get the city of Middletown to approve a police chief who was not qualified and was rejected 2 times by the City Council and one time by the public in a referendum.

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  8. my thoughts are that the majority of bloggers are in fact not journalists. if you go to college and recieve a degree then you are in fact a journalist. long gone are the day of the true reporter. once media was a non biased forum to present news to the public. since the advent of 24 hour news channels, the idea of non bias reporting is now long dead. people pick sides and receive their news through the outlet that sides with their own beliefs and not an unbiased opinion as presented therefore minds never open up to other opinions. when news became news entertainment- that silenced dialogue to become educated from both sides of an issue. what a shame. R.I.P. news reporting of old!

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  9. funny how all these people who look down on bloggers or citizen journalists are Eye readers, the Eye of course being a citizen journalist run blog

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  10. That is the entire point....citizen journalists are not necessarily professionally trained journalists, but they care enough to sit through this or that meeting, write about an upcoming event, etc., and report on what is going on in their community.

    There are always invitations from the Eye to participate.

    I applaud all that contribute! I learn much more than I would about this community because of The Middletown Eye.

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  11. In response to Anonymouse 4:42 PM, I would say "Sad", not "Funny".

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  12. Anon 12:42

    When I want news from professional seasoned journalist who maintain objectivity I simply shut down the Middletown Eye and turn on Fox News or pick up a Wall Street Journal. Both professional media organziations are entirely objective and without bias. Right?

    When I want news, listings and opinions about the community where I live I check the Middletown Eye. Thanks to the citizen jouranalist, or bloggers, who contribute their time and talents to keeping us informed.

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  13. Anon 3:22
    Yes, we are much better off with a chief of police who didn't even meet the criteria for a patrol officer when he was hired by Serra and who has been convicted of assualt.

    Lean forward Middletown.

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