the first citizen journalist (CJ) conference was held at the annexe central market on 1 and 2 may, in conjunction of world press freedom day which falls on 3 may. over 100 CJ from all over the country attended the conference.
i felt very proud to be among one of those CJ who attended the conference. in fact, james and i were the very first one to arrive… even before the organisers. hehe. actually we intended to go to the GST protest at dataran merdeka before attending the conference but james said to drop in at the conference first. then after dropping in, he felt lazy to go to dataran merdeka! anyway somewhere before the conference started, when shan said he wanted to go, i quickly tagged along with him but then we found out the protest was over.
ok back to the conference. it started after lunch time on saturday, 1 may. where jimmy, my fellow penang lang CJ (where some of us refer to him a ‘tai kor’). was the MC for the event. the first main seminar was just some introduction, briefing and discussion. some CJ shared about their video work (er… they should be more refer to as VCJ acutally – video citizen journalists). those who shared include shan, dave, sharyn.
after this first main seminar, there was a break-out session. ‘break-out’ meaning, the sessions were divided into 3 categories: freshie (the new CJ and the public), those who attended the basic training and those who attended the advanced training (i’m in the last category). different sessions for the different groups.
for freshie, mr krishnanmoorthy muthaly, former reporter of the star, gave at session on ‘basic citizen journalism’, while for the basic CJ it was a session on ‘news writing & journalism ethics’ by mr s. viknesan. whereas i attended the session on ‘video investigative reporting’ by mr charles mohan of ntv7. charles showed us videos of his exposure of filipino prostitutes in sabah (known as bidayut). the videos were aired on ntv7 in 4 parts. wow! interesting to learn how he went undercover. secret camera and hidden tape recorder in the form of a watch – reminding me of james bond and his gadgets! it was an eye-opening session for me to learn from a professional on how an investigative (the exposure kind) was done.
the second main seminar was conducted by prof. zahrom nain from the university of nottingham on the topic of journalism and news reporting. it was nice meeting prof. zahrom again. we met briefly at kee thuan chye’s book reading in penang – the book ‘march 8, the day malaysia woke up’ written by kee tuan chye. both prof. zahrom and i had contributed to the book. we were also members in the bangsa malaysia penang e-group.
this was followed by the best part of it all – food! ok ok, not that really but the best part was meeting the big guns of malaysiakini during the dinner and listening to their speeches. well, there was a buffet dinner, a time for people to eat and mingle around. i got to talk to stevan gan, one of malaysiakini’s boss, to send francis chan’s regard to him (among other things of course. oh francis chan is the bureau chief of UCAN).
hannah yeoh, the ADUN for subang was invited as a special guest. she gave a speech and together with stevan and premesh, launched komunitikini.
after the dinner, it was time for speeches and awards. both stevan gan and premesh chandran (malaysiakini co-founders) gave a speech. part of what they said can be read at the komunitikini website. (also CnP below). i notice that stevan gan has a habit of saying “you know…”. haha. so many times, throughout his speech, we heard ”you know…”
oh before the speeches, we were introduced to two penans CJ! they were mariam kek mewa and gayut lim. a video by them was shown to all. they also gave a short speech in their iban language and in bahasa.
there was an award presentation for best video – 2 categories – one voted by CJ and one voted by the public. the former was won by KS tan while the latter was won by dave kameron. there was also a certificate presentation ceremony for those taking the basic course.
the next day, sunday, 2 may, started off with an interesting person in the form of a sweet lady, veronica pedrosa from al-jazeera! she was here on personal capacity though. well she shared with us about broadcast reporting.
the breakout session which followed, saw mr teoh teik khoon telling the freshie on the basic of camera handling. mr krishnanmoorty was back for the basic CJ category, this time on the topic of investigative journalism. s. vicknesan (or fondly known as ‘vicky’) who on the first day gave an insight of news writing and journalism ethics to the basic CJ, today, talked about advanced news writing for my group – advanced CJ. i like this session since i once in a while do news writing for the herald and UCAN. vicky was a great speaker who spoke freely from the heart. i notice he did not use any props (like most speakers using powerpoint slides) not did he us any notes! he was totally empty handed. he just spoke like he’s talking to friends… and i notice he likes to walk round and round the table as he spoke. luckily it was a slow walk… or else he would made all of us dizzy. hehe.
the last session of the day was a talk on the new media by oon yeoh from the edge. well… what he told us were nothing new actually. i don’t know with the others but i sort of feel this session shouldn’t be held (because what he presented to us, i already knew!). it was not the speakers’ fault of course, since he was asked to give a talk on this topic. oh well, maybe some of the freshie find the session useful.
the last event of the day was the forum, where all the CJ present thrashed out any problems or issues they have. well i suppose this should be among us CJ only so i’d better not talk about what we thrashed out here in my blog.
i was very happy to have attended the conference as not only did i get to learn stuffs to enhance my knowledge but i also get to meet so many CJ from all over malaysia. all this is possible because of maran perianen – our CJ sifu!! syabas to him and a big THANK YOU to him. of course the others malaysiakini staff e.g. shufiyan, indrani also played a part in moulding the CJ but maran was the main person who takes care of us CJ – he’s like a papa to us. haha.
ok to see more photos taken by me, please go to my facebook album (some – 4 or 5 photos were not by me). i do not have the 2nd day photos as my camera’s battery were out.
so far i see facebook photo album of arvind raj (more to be updated later)
UPDATED
also to read about the conference from some of the CJ (more to be updated later… if any)
UPDATED
sunny lim (6 videos here!)
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the prelude!
Citizen journalists revolutionise news reporting
Sharyn Shufiyan
Apr 30, 10
3:16pm
In Malaysia, news reportage is seen to be monopolised by major news organizations that are either owned by political parties or funded by corporations that are government-friendly.
The growing skepticism and distrust among the public is creating a thirst for impartial and objective news reports.
This has given birth to citizen journalism.
Recognising that there is news out there that escapes the mainstream media, Malaysiakini’s CEO and co-founder Premesh Chandran started the citizen journalism training course with funding from the US-based International Center for Journalists in 2008, conducted its first training programme in November that year.
The course aims to equip its participants, regardless of background, with journalistic skills that include writing as well as new tools such as video story-telling.
Along the way they are also introduced fundamentals of journalism: the ethics and mechanics of the trade that will serve as a guide in a their pursuit of stories, and which distinguishes them from mainstream journalists.
The workshops are intense, compact and hands-on with theoretical and practical exercises designed to shape ordinary people – teachers, lawyers, students, retirees – into unbiased, ethical and daring citizen journalists (CJs) reporting on issues that concern them and their community.
Key to the programme is the close monitoring and mentoring that active CJs receive to ensure continual improvement in their skill-sets.
Challenging mainstream media
Since its inception, the programme has spawned 186 citizen journalists, of whom 86 are active reporters today. Some have even made a name for themselves in the media.
They have shaken political parties, highlighted community struggles, tackled religious and ethnicity issues and other such stories that the mainstream media steers clear of.
Sixteen training workshops have so far been conducted throughout Malaysia, in Kelantan, Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.
The course emphasises video journalism, as visuals tell a million stories and have great potential to move viewers. Messages come out stronger with real footage and at-the-scene reporting.
In fact, some of the videos produced by the CJs have created such impact they have been picked up by other online news portals and disseminated across cyberspace.
Life-changing
Participants of the workshops say that it has changed their lives.
For some, it has instilled a new sense of confidence and curiosity as they are compelled to approach and interview people for stories. The more assured participants learn to adopt a more ethical and professional approach to the job.
Some who have never handled a video camera before can now edit and produce documentaries, while those who could not write before are now sending articles to be published in Malaysiakini.
To date, CJs have produced 694 videos and 43 articles. 12 of the articles have made it to Malaysiakini’s website.
The rest are hosted on www.cj.my, a site established as a result of the programme’s success and a channel for CJs to host their work.
This new breed of journalists is revolutionising the way that news is being reported in the country, and they pose a real challenge to a mainstream media that is constantly negotiating red-tape around “sensitive issues.”
The programme has injected new hope into journalism in Malaysia, and nothing like it exists elsewhere in the region.
It is therefore fitting that they be the focus of World Press Freedom Day this year.
From 1 – 2 May, 2009, Central Market’s Annexe in Kuala Lumpur will host the CJ Conference 2010, where CJs from around the country will converge to discuss and share their experiences. The conference will also engage the public through various workshops.
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the epilogue!
Malaysiakini founder Premesh Chandran spoke about the plans for the newly launched community website, Komunitikini.com, at the recent Citizen Journalist Conference held at the Central Market Annexe last Saturday. He said the portal plans to expand to 30 communities within a year.
Premesh said the newly launched Komunitikini will work with citizen journalists around the country to provide local insights.
“Citizen journalists will function as someone from the community, to address issues of concern in the community,” he said in a speech after launching Komunitikini with Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and Subang assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh.
Komunitikini has been running for one month and now prioritising Subang Jaya, Puchong, Petaling Jaya, Bangsar and Damansara in the first phase.
Premesh also excited the crowd when he announced Malaysiakini has filed an application for a print license.
“We applied for it seven years ago, but they (the authority) gave us no reply. I think they have no reason to say ‘no’’ now because we have a very good track record so far,” he said.
In the conference where more than 180 citizen journalists from all over Malaysia attended, the organisers screened a video about the life of Sarawak Penan community, produced by two Penan citizen journalists.
The two journalists made an open plea for better education infrastructure for the Penans and dedicated schools for the community.
“Many of us did not attend high school because the nearest school takes us about one week’s time to drive to,” Gayut Lim, the Penan guy said.
It partially denies the access of Penan to higher education, resulting in the lack of progress among the community.
Subang state assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh in her speech said local news can serve to inform the public regarding the proper jurisdiction of channels and power separation between state and federal governments.
She meanwhile suggested for more positive news to be circulated.
“I think our society reads too much bad news. Everyday when we open the newspaper, it’s all depressing news,” she said.
The two-day conference saw seasoned journalists such as Veronica Pedrosa (Al-Jazeera) and Onn Yeoh (The Edge) speaking about topics including citizen journalism, new media, and journalism ethics.
The event also saw awards being given out for the best videos created by citizen journalists.
Malaysiakini initiated the citizen journalist project over a year ago by organising a series of workshops to train the citizens to report news, events and issues pertaining to their communities.
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May 4th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
this comment appeared on my mental jog blog:
Dr. Ron Ross said:
May 4th, 2010 on 10:48 PM
Lucia: blessings on your work as a citizen journalist. Our new book, “Handbook for Citizen Journalists” could be a big help to you. Visit http://www.citizenjournalistnow.com for information. We would love to help the citizen journalist movement in Malaysia.