Approach
The ICJ initiative is rooted in two emerging global movements. First, new technologies make media more accessible, allowing private citizens to break stories and to express themselves on virtual platforms. The Internet now hosts millions of web logs (Blogs), pictures and video sharing websites around the world. Secondly, civil society has risen up to address urgent social, economic and environmental issues worldwide, calling for collective action on shared challenges such as global warming, disease, human slave trade, child abuse, and women’s rights. A new international civic society is emerging.
The ICJ believes that by promoting high quality citizen journalism as an innovation for social change, civil society will be able to achieve a greater impact in their work. The use of new technologies can improve the quality and accessibility of research based on a broader and more diverse platform of information provided by grassroots journalists. By linking eager citizen journalists with experienced professionals, ICJ will lift the quality of citizen journalism, while expanding the scope of traditional journalism.
The ICJ proposes to create this interactive space, and facilitate the use of this new media. The group of researchers at the ICJ will provide the support that citizen journalists need to develop their stories while ensuring credibility. The ICJ will develop a set of tools and resources that will help citizen journalists build their capacity to utilize these platforms more effectively. In the end, we will help people get their stories out to the world.
