Wednesday, May 12, 2010

You Can Be A Journalist Too With Indybay.org

What defines a journalist? One who writes for a traditional news media outlet. One who follows a code of ethics, and adheres to professional and legal issues. It’s great to have these to lean back on, but these factors are not always necessary to have, although don’t get me wrong, they are important. Nevertheless, this website Indybay.org/santacruz is great and local for citizen journalism! Here, this is all about user created media. In fact, this website is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Plus, this website caters to many countries, such as Haiti and Egypt.

The individuals who make up this website are comprised of local people who write stories, take pictures, etc. that have not been covered in their traditional news outlets. These specific citizens are concerned about private decisions that have huge impacts, these include issues that deal with marches, police, and environmental issues for example. The website also provides niche genres that deal with gender and sexuality and war and peace.

In addition to giving to providing local residents a chance to write about stories, it also gives aspiring journalists an opportunity to publish their material and work at a local level. You know you can count on this website to find stories that you wouldn’t normally find somewhere else. As long as you have access to internet connection and the basic knowledge of internet skills you can become involved too.

Also, websites like this encourage and allow people to take part in I-reports. People can take pictures of their town and post them onto the website. For example, on the KSBW website, users can upload pictures about the weather or sports on the “Your Photos and Videos” section and can have their say or scenes in local news. I think this is an engaging and entertaining way to give back to your community. So, what are you waiting for? Get on it!

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