Archive for December, 2007
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What do they say it is?
7iber is an independent web-based citizen-media news outlet from Jordan.”
What do I say it is?
7iber (‘ink’ in Arabic written on a Latin keyboard) are four freelancers that got together to publish English-language content about Jordan. The project relies also on community-generated content, but it feels more like open-minded journalism than “citizen-media”.
What’s great about it?
Just like iNorden, 7iber aims at much more than milking the 2.0 cow. The 7iber team believes in the transforming power of the web and hopes to harness its power to actually change the Jordanian society at large.
What could be better?
7iber wants us to believe it’s “people-powered”, even though it’s written in a language only a minority speaks on a medium only a minority has access to.
Less than a third of traffic actually comes from Jordan. The project represents more of a toy for the elite (and orientalist American kids) and won’t make a difference for the unconnected masses. But it’s worth trying.
How is it going to make money?
Web-based publishing remaining dirt-cheap, 7iber relies solely on the founders’ capital. It might look for advertising dollars but shows no hurry. The dryness of the revenue stream seems not to affect the project, which publishes non-stop since May. Passion is a handy substitute for money.
Should I pay it any attention?
Just wait for the headline ‘Jordan Censors Homegrown CitJ Website’ on your favorite journalism blog. To succeed, 7iber must grow loud enough to bother the local government. Otherwise, it will become a collaborative, loss-making Lonely Planet copycat.
(Btw, Mark Glaser interviewed 7iber’s founder at Mediashift.)
By Nicolas Kayser-Bril
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December 26th, 2007
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What do they say it is?
“Thisismereporting.com was set up to combat all of the one sided journalism we are currently exposed to. You never hear the real story from real people, you never hear about anything good, you never see reports about ordinary people and their day to day lives.So here it is, show us your world.”
What do I say it is?
A place for video footage that may be considered as newsworthy. Most cases, it’s just a collection of extreme situations that were caught on tape by common citizens.
What’s great about it?
Not much, they just follow an equation to which all videos must agree: videos and citizens plus event equals news. Not really, though. But the main idea is great, turning common citizens into ENGs (Electronic News Gatherers, aka video reporters).
What could be better?
The design could be a whole lot better and that camera on the logo is totally wrong, it should be a cell phone. There is no context for most of the videos. This isn’t journalism, it’s voyeurism. The videos can´t be easily embedded, so the website’s purpose stays within it’s bounds, and dies there. And so does the intention of reporting anything, because the drama is there, but not the plot, so they fail completely. Besides, citizen videos that are used in breaking news reports go all to the big media outlets, not here.
How is it going to make money?
Is it? Ok, they have some ads, and it doesn’t look like they’re spending a lot of money, but survival is going to be hard in my opinion, unless they change something. Or maybe they’re just hoping to be absorbed by a major news corp.
Should I pay it any attention?
Yes, if you want to see some dramatic footage and be happy with just that.
by Alexandre Gamela
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December 19th, 2007
What do they say it is?
“FreshTies main aim is to encourage individuals, charities and businesses alike to actively participate in their local community. It gives individuals the chance to swap things, find local news and ways to help their community; buinesses the chance to promote their services, news to classifieds and initiatives;charities the chance to reach more people for support, resources and funds. It gives budding journalists/writers in need of experience, and those who would like a higher profile, the opportunity to write about their local community in various roles, as editor, reporter or features writer on local content, as well as content for a national audience.”
What do we say it is?
An interesting up and coming citizen journalism project set up by a former City lawyer, Ashish Poddar, that allows people to write about local issues and topics that interest them. From the information provided on the site it seems that individual writers will have a considerable amount of scope to develop their own stories and ideas and have a real choice in what they write about. An excellent way to gain experience and to participate in your local community at the same time. To access the FreshTies site fully you need to join as a member, which allows you to search for FreshTies members in your area. An individual membership costs £10.00 —- £5.00 of which goes to FreshTies and £5.00 going to a local fund to benefit your community.
What makes it great?
It is a well developed site and the developers obviously believe in what they are doing.
What mistakes are they making?
Although the website is well presented and easy to navigate, there needs to be a clearer explanation of what you can be expected to have access to when you join FreshTies as a member - it doesn’t really specify what is available to you at present which will potentially put some people off from joining.
How is it going to make money?
Freshties is a regulated, not-for-profit organisation, which makes money from its membership fees alone - they use all profits for causes in the community.However, because this is a slightly different take on many of the citizen journalism projects out there already, it provides an alternative for people who want to actively participate in journalistic pursuits. However, without any real advertising, word of mouth is the only way that the site is going to get further publicity. A lot will depend on whether current FreshTies members are happy with the services that they are receiving at present and if they are telling their friends about the site.
Should I pay any attention?
Yes. If you are interested about participating in writing about local community issues FreshTies offers the perfect opportunity to get involved and meet like minded people.
by Melissa Edwards
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December 13th, 2007