Check out some highlights from the NeighborMedia program in this short demo reel!

The New York Times published an interesting article today, entitled "Journalism in the Hands of the Neighborhood."

The article highlights a class on citizen journalism offered by the Media Mobilizing Project and the South Philadelphia Community Center, JUNTOS, to cover local issues on housing and development (see MMP's "All For the Taking" blog).

The Times article raises the question of whether or not the term "citizen" in the phrase "citizen journalism" is an appropriate label for those practicing journalists who are not citizens or "even legal residents." MMP organizer, Todd Wolfson is quoted in the story as saying that MMP prefers the term "community journalism."

In November, 2007 University of Missouri Professors James Sterling and David Burton wrote the following about the term community journalism: read more...

The month of February seems to have gotten away from me. So on this Leap Day it's about time for a NeighborMedia update. There's lots of project news to report, especially regarding outreach.

• Training program additions: CCTV kicked off a new course schedule that includes Blogging 101 and Citizen Journalism 101. Both were extremely successful in their first runs. read more...

Rising Voices, "a citizen media outreach initiative of Global Voices" just released the first in a series of guides to help make "participatory media easier to understand and take part in."

This 8-page guide, titled Citizen Media: An Introduction is essential reading for anyone interested in learning how to make your own media using a computer and an Internet connection. It also includes 10 Case Studies that highlight some of the people behind their blogs from around the world, including:

Mentalacrobatics

"Nairobi-based Kenyan blogger Daudi Were covers an impressive number of topics ranging from Kenyan politics to Pan-African identity to new advances in technology."

Tharum Bun read more...

On Friday, BU held a conference called New Media and the Marketplace of Ideas, co-sponsored by COM and the School of Law, WBUR and a local law firm. Much of what was addressed was an effort to answer the question: How does communications law apply to the new media landscape?

For the most part, it seems like the answer is the same for citizen media and traditional journalism. It's just important to remember bloggers don't get any special privileges. So, as a reminder:

• Minors should be provided with parental consent forms if they are to be interviewed. This issue apparently comes up a lot with hyperlocal media because high school sports players and other students are often the focus of reports.
• CCTV is not responsible for content, so aside from basic editing, no staff member can interfere with the content of the blog. (See Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This also holds users who comment on blog entries unaccountable unless the user comments themselves contain defamatory content.)
• Citizen journalists are held to the same standards of accuracy and professionalism as professional journalists. This means they can be held responsible for defamation, libel and all those types of violations.

So be careful when you're blogging, and heed the advice of one of the seasoned lawyers at the conference who reminded the audience that citizen journalists are not immune to the law: "As long as there are bloggers," he said, "there will be lawyers."