New perspectives on citizen journalism: Introduction to special issue

In the aftermath of the South Asian tsunami of 26 December 2004, the term ‘citizen journalism’ swiftly gained currency with global news organisations finding themselves in the difficult position of being largely dependent on ‘amateur’ photographs, video footage and eyewitness accounts to tell the story of what was transpiring on the ground in the most severely affected areas. Despite its ambiguities, the term was widely perceived to capture the countervailing ethos of the ordinary person’s capacity to contribute to professional news coverage, thereby providing commentators with a useful label to characterise an ostensibly new genre of user-generated content

Contract Farming, Ecological Change and the Transformations of Reciprocal Gendered Social Relations in Eastern India

Debates on gender and the commodification of land highlight the loss of land rights, intensification of demands on women’s labour, and decline in their decision-making control. Supported by ‘extra-economic forces’ of religious nationalism (Hindutva), such neoliberal interventions are producing new gender ideologies involving a subtle shift from relations of reciprocity to those of subordination. Using data from fine grained fieldwork in Koraput district, Odisha, we analyse the tensions and transformations created jointly by corporate interventions (contract farming of eucalyptus by the paper industry) and religious nationalism in the local landscape. We examine how these phenomena are reshaping relations of asymmetric mutuality between nature and society, and between men and women

Investigative Journalism: A Handbook for Asia-Pacific Broadcasters

Not only is investigative journalism at the core of what is meant by the term, ‘watchdog journalism’, it has a definite moral purpose. It has a lot to do with the concepts of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.Investigative journalism produces stories that deliver impact as it unveils what is often, the untold truth. Investigative Journalism: A Handbook for Asia-Pacific Broadcasters offers a methodical approach from finding the story to managing the investigation and scripting the story for broadcast. The author also lists ethical considerations, challenges and pitfalls of investigative journalism which would help to keep journalists themselves accountable as they craft their reports

India: You ain't seen nothing yet

It is the fundamental question facing modern journalism. Can print journalism survive the digital tsunami? In the developed world newspapers are closing regularly and journalists live in constant fear of redundancy. Can journalism stay alive in this maelstrom? A distinguished group of journalists and industry experts offer their authoritative views on this, the big question, in this the eighteenth of the Abramis 'Hackademic' series, which analyses the biggest issues facing the media and freedom of expression in today's world

Games and Feints as Pedagogy: Using Game Theory and Reverse Logic to Teach Conflict Reporting

This article presents a successful experiment in the use of two innovative pedagogic methods – game theory and ‘reverse logic’ – to overcome problems in the sustained adoption of good practices in reporting conflict during a workshop for broadcast journalists in Nepal organised by UNESCO and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). The article outlines how the strategy for using game theory and reverse logic was designed and implemented to allow discovery of principles and to promote longer term ownership of the journalistic values that are consistent with conflict resolution and peace-building. It goes on to describe workshop activities and relates them to issues in transformative learning and value education. It evaluates student reactions and engagement and the extent to which the use of game theory and reverse logic led to the adoption of desired values