Community News Research Articles

Māori and community news constructions of Meningococcal B: The promotion of a moral obligation to vaccinate

Māori and community news constructions of Meningococcal B: The promotion of a moral obligation to vaccinate

Students and Social News

The growth of new media is changing how news organizations publish their work, and the explosion of social networks is changing the way news consumers of all ages share information. As news outlets face an uncertain future and try to reach younger, newer audiences, the rapid growth of mobile devices means new opportunities to create, share, and consume news content. This study examines how young news consumers share and consume news content, specifically whether they are more likely to get news through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) or directly through news sources (news stations, newspapers, websites, and mobile apps). The findings here indicate that students may hear of news through social media, but rely on other internet sources to confirm it. Local news does not seem to carry as much weight with them, but they can be persuaded to pay attention to their college towns, if only for community news and information. The findings of this study could help producers of news content tailor their information to fit these new “publishing” formats to maintain (or perhaps increase) their audience.

Marie Meets Leonardo: A Perfect Match?

June 01 2014 Marie Meets Leonardo: A Perfect Match? Sue Denham Sue Denham Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Sue Denham Online Issn: 1530-9282 Print Issn: 0024-094X ©2014 ISAST2014 Leonardo (2014) 47 (3): 202. https://doi.org/10.1162/LEON_e_00707 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Sue Denham; Marie Meets Leonardo: A Perfect Match?. Leonardo 2014; 47 (3): 202. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/LEON_e_00707 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsLeonardo Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. ©2014 ISAST2014 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

From Latin America to Africa: Defining the “World Revolution” in The Black Panther

Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the Black Panther Party offered an alternative discourse to the Civil Rights Movement, primarily using Black power rhetoric, Black nationalism and internationalism, and Marxist-Leninist revolutionary politics. This article provides a historical analysis of the Party's international news coverage, published between 1967 and 1970, in its newspaper The Black Panther Black Community News Service. Although previous literature has largely analyzed the Party's use of print media, less work has analyzed how the Party's newspaper became a tool for internationalizing the U.S. Black Power Movement (BPM), immediately following the launching of The Black Panther. An analysis of the newspapers’ first 3 years of publication locates the 1960s BPM within a global movement focusing on both race and class struggle. Although there is little evidence that suggests the newspaper had a significant effect on fostering an international BPM, its existence is important. This article shows how the newspaper helped shape the discourse of race and class by highlighting how The Black Panther informed their members and other readers about the organization and its messages, but also educated readers about international affairs (particularly about socialist and liberation movements abroad). Such a project underscores the importance of the relationship between media history and social movements.

Boston in the 1970s: Is There a Lesbian Community? And if There is, Who is in it?

This excerpt from Amy Hoffman's memoir, An Army of Ex-Lovers: My Life at the Gay Community News (University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), describes some of the alternative community institutions serving lesbian feminists in Boston in the late 1970s. Hoffman, in her twenties at the time and fairly newly out, is an enthusiastic patron of these institutions. However, after a while, she begins to wonder about them. Boston in the 1970s was racially segregated and tense; a judicial order to desegregate the schools led to racist riots. The women's community was, sadly, no more diverse than the city's neighborhoods, and the alternative institutions, Hoffman realizes, are organized by and cater mostly to young, white, middle-class women like her. They fail to appeal to the needs and interests of poor women of color—although of course some do participate, and others become active in service organizations such as battered women's shelters.

The Active Citizen's Information Media Repertoire: An Exploration of Community News Habits During the Digital Age

Digital technologies have reconfigured how active community members know about local news. Sampling one Midwest community's most engaged citizens—collectively, a “community of practice”—this research formalizes one emerging media-information repertoire around the issue of homelessness. Components of this repertoire include motivations, structuring conditions, norms of usage, and perceived consequences for media-source selection. Commenting, sharing, and other information exchange become “acts of news” for individuals involved in communities of practice. Through shared information-exchange practices, citizens can not only advocate their social causes but also reinvigorate their own affiliations to the community of practice and to the city itself. The use of this media repertoire by these individuals reconstitutes and amplifies their role in the pursuit of fostering a civil society focused on homelessness. The findings illuminate the process of how community activists work as an informal organizational form and, as a result, build a stronger commitment to civic action.

Developing with the community

In recent years, there has been much discussion and some degree of discontent with the current scientific publishing system. While we at Development continue to believe in the basic tenets of academic journal publishing - stringent editorial assessment and pre-publication peer review - we recognise

The Use of Citizen Journalism for Hyperlocal News Production

This paper describes the case of the hyperlocal media project of the Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg (1). In 2011 the newspaper launched a platform, called Het Belang van mijn gemeente, which makes use of citizen journalism for the coverage of local community news. The newspaper actively encourages community members (i.e. citizens, local councils and organizations) to contribute stories to the local news pages on the newspaper’s website. For each municipality in the province of Limburg, a local news page is created where people who have registered themselves as a news hunter can publish their own news stories, pictures and event announcements. All citizen contributions are published next to the professionally made news articles from the newspaper’s local journalists. Since the professional editorial content and the user-generated news content are not separated but co-exist within the same online news environment, it is interesting to investigate similarities and complementarities between both types of content. The central research question of this paper therefore is to what extent and in which ways contributions by local citizen journalists differ from the professional editorial news content in terms of topic selection and the use of sources.

USING CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM

Hyperlocal journalism is thriving. This article describes the case of a Belgian regional newspaper experimenting with citizen journalism and user-generated content (UGC) for hyperlocal news coverage. For each municipality of the region, an online news page has been created where all citizen contributions are published side by side with professional stories on local community news and events. The fact that the UGC is not separated from the professional articles makes it an interesting case to examine commonalities and differences between both types of community reporting. The findings, based on a content analysis of 474 news items, suggest that the newspaper seems to use citizen volunteers primarily as a means to outsource the “soft”, “good” and “small” news coverage of local community life, while preserving the “hard” and “bad” news provision as the exclusive domain of professional journalists. Further, the study's findings support previous research indicating that (1) local community journalism is characterised by a mix of crime reporting and news coverage of fires and accidents, on the one hand, and positive human-interest stories about social club activities, cultural events, health and sports, and school life, on the other; and that (2) citizen journalists tend to rely heavily on first-hand witnessing and personal experience due to a general lack of access to official sources of information.

Community Stories and News Sites

People create and publish stories on different platforms, but some of them are taken by the news sites. This paper examines the community news feeds and approaches for using the content provided by citizens on news sites. Because the citizens’ content can both adjust the flow of information and facilitate the collection of information, this paper explores different situations which are interesting for news sites. The paper concludes that users’ content improves the relationship between journalists, users and information. The paper underlines the ways in which community stories are used in the flow of information on media sites.

Connecting, Informing and Empowering Our Communities: Remote Indigenous Radio in the Northern Peninsula Area

This study provides an insight into the role and functions of a remote Indigenous radio station that broadcasts to five communities in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) of Cape York, Queensland. It evaluates the activities of NPA Radio in the context of previous research that investigates how community-based media forms empower and inform specific sectors of society. Using field research, the study reveals five key themes relating to the role of NPA Radio in the communities of Seisia, New Mapoon, Bamaga, Umagico and Injinoo. These can briefly be described as providing information and community news; maintaining and sharing culture; connecting the communities of the NPA; connecting individuals and key services; and fostering a sense of belonging and ownership.

Evaluating the accuracy, quality, and readability of online physical activity, exercise, and sport information for people with schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia are not physically active and experience high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Research shows that the Internet is a valuable and convenient source of health information for individuals with schizophrenia. Despite its importance, online physical activity, exercise, and sport information for this population has not been assessed. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the accuracy, quality, and readability of online physical activity, exercise, and sport information for people with schizophrenia. This review followed an adapted methodology proposed by Jetha, Faulkner, Gorczynski, Arbour, and Martin Ginis (2011). Websites were obtained from mental health organizations and following a standardized search protocol. Websites were included in the review if they discussed physical activity, exercise, or sport information and individuals with schizophrenia. Overall, 17 websites were included in the review. Two researchers independently evaluated each website for descriptive characteristics, information accuracy, technical quality, theoretical behavioral quality, targeting strategies, and readability. Information on physical activity, exercise, or sport was mostly provided on websites designed by community organizations (41%) and news agencies (41%). Most websites (59%) did not provide information that was supported by any physical activity guidelines for aerobic or resistance exercises. Nearly all websites (94%) mentioned the benefits and barriers to active living, but few (29%) discussed other cognitive or behavioral aspects that could promote physical activity participation. The majority of websites (88%) required a reading grade level of 10 or higher. More research is necessary to help tailor online physical activity, exercise, and sport information for this population.

CV Bate, grondlegger van die Potchefstroom Herald

The British-born newspaperman CV Bate founded the Potchefstroom Herald in 1908. He remained owner for 49 years during which time he established not only the paper but himself as a journalist of some repute. As a news medium Bate’s Potchefstroom Herald covered all the major international and national events, without neglecting the community news of an ever-changing Potchefstroom. He was also a crafty businessman and compassionate member of a community that did not always share his pro-British political views. More important was his strong support for reconciliation between the Afrikaans- and English-speaking South Africans. In support of this ideal, he established an Afrikaans paper, the Westelike Stem. While Bate’s sentiments left its marks on his reporting, his integrity was above reproach and he notably gave due prominence to the victory of the National Party in 1948 and the new prime minister’s visit to Potchefstroom. Subsequent to Bate’s retirement, his papers fell into the hands of Afrikaners who eventually transformed the Potchefstroom Herald into a predominantly Afrikaans publication. But when the Potchefstroom Herald celebrated its centenary, the paper had perhaps become what Bate always intended: a non-ideological paper that tried to serve the whole community of Potchefstroom. The Potchefstroom Herald thus remains a monument to one man’s tenacity and spirit.

When citizens meet both professional and citizen journalists: Social trust, media credibility, and perceived journalistic roles among online community news readers

Through a web-based survey ( N = 238), this study examines how online community news readers perceive the roles of both professional and citizen journalists, and predicts the extent to which social capital, such as social trust and media credibility, contributes to their perceived journalistic roles. Analyses show that while media credibility was positively related to the role conceptions of professional journalists only, social trust was positively associated with the role conceptions of both professional and citizen journalists. Implications are discussed for the relationship between social trust, media credibility, and perceived journalistic roles.

A Lesson Before Dying: Embracing Innovations for Community Engagement as a Survival Strategy for Media in Crisis

As media organizations confront an uncertain future unleashed by disruptive technologies, they are searching for ways to successfully navigate the changing information landscape. This paper argues that one way out of the present crises is for media to embrace a culture of innovation and use engaging communication technologies that are mutually beneficial to the media and to the communities they serve. The paper maps trends in media innovations and then reports on a unique innovation project that designed a new digital tool to help media re- engage their communities in new ways. The success of the project suggests that innovative tools and services that are specifically geared towards community engagement can provide a lifeline for media in crises as well as transform community news, information distribution and visualization, and impact community conversations, making new media technology a valued ally to media organizations and communities rather than a disruptive threat.

Mapping Change: Community Information Empowerment in Kibera (Innovations Case Narrative: Map Kibera)

public, open, and shared information about one of the world’s most-known slums: Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. Other parts of Nairobi were well documented by online and paper maps, but the city’s most densely populated parts—the informal settlements—remained invisible. Mikel Maron and I started the project in 2009; in 2010 we founded GroundTruth Initiative to support this and other future projects. Our basic goal was to alter the existing local information dynamic by helping residents to amplify their views using increasingly accessible new technologies. Today Map Kibera is a community information project that includes ongoing digital mapping, the Voice of Kibera community news website, and the Kibera News Network video journalism project. The first digital map of Kibera is now available to everyone through OpenStreetMap. It forms the base of the Voice of Kibera website, where residents can post stories and information via SMS and web form, and they are then geo-located on the map. A team of young people covers events in Kibera by using handheld video cameras; they edit the video themselves and post it on YouTube. Community involvement includes drawing paper maps, public participatory GIS sessions, and work with local organizations on key community issues. Approximately 30 Kibera youth now form the core membership of the Map Kibera Trust, and our programming has expanded to train people in Mathare, another Nairobi slum. Kibera was not actually unmapped—it was in many ways the most visible slum on earth. The problem was that none of the existing maps were shared with the public or used by Kibera’s residents. Kibera is saturated with international NGOs, community-based organizations, and faith-based groups. It is common to see for-

Pictures of a Floating World. The Philadelphia Inquirer Seeks a Community Calling in Cyberspace

As The Philadelphia Inquirer attempts to find a suitable web structure to advance a strategy of breaking news “firsts,” hyper-locality, and virtual community news hubbing in cyberspace, this article explores the theoretical and practical contradictions the Inquirer faces as it reinvents its news and visual imprint. The article also compares the Internet and its growing, untethered news readership(s) to the ‘floating world’ of Japanese Ukiyo-e artwork. Such is socially engaging, bourgeois, and hypercommunicative with a minimal use of text.

Local Government News Drives Print Readership

National survey data suggest there remains a hunger for local news. The print newspaper audience is made up of those with an interest in both local government and community news, while an increase online is seen only among those interested in community news.

Building a LEED, WEEE, and RoHS Facility

To lower costs, protect the environment, raise capital, deliver cross-platform digital content, and anticipate emerging environmental regulations, Vegas PBS in Las Vegas designed a new broadcast facility that incorporates low energy consuming lighting and electronics, clean indoor air products, recycled and agriculturally-based furnishings, day lighting, solar and geothermal power, water conservation, and end-of-life electronic waste disposal strategies. These strategies have dramatically lowered operating costs, reduced absenteeism, and generated considerable community news coverage.

The lure of the local: ‘News’ definitions in community broadcasting

Journalists and media researchers globally are increasingly expressing concern about trends in the news media industry which would appear to suggest a dire future for quality journalism, and thus democracy, in many developed democratic nations. The US State of the News Media report, now produced annually, regularly reports concerns by journalists and editors—and those who study them—about decreasing investment by news corporations in quality journalism (Pew Centre, 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008). The Australian Press Council has presented its own study to mirror that of the Pew Centre in an effort to report on the Australian context (APC, 2006; 2007). The author has, with colleagues from Griffith University, conducted research into the Australian community broadcasting sector for the past nine years. The research conducted since 1999 has been broad but this article will focus on one element of the research—the news and information services of community broadcasting. The community broadcasting sector is worthy of close investigation, because it is one of the few areas of the Australian media landscape that continues to grow. Importantly, quantitative research into the community sector indicates that 57 percent of the Australian population tune in at least monthly to a community radio station—and more than one in four listen at least weekly (McNair Ingenuity, 2008, p. 4). This article investigates the nature of community news offered by the Australian community radio sector through the perspectives of journalists and producers who deliver the news, and the audiences who access it.