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Citizen Journalism: Care2 Member Scoops Mainstream Media

We took great satisfaction in reading in a USA Today article today that it was not legendary investigative reporters Seymour Hersh or Michael Issikoff or even Matt Drudge who broke the latest major story about the Bush Administration's most recent attempt to thwart terrorists at the expense of Americans' civil liberties. Rather, it was a Care2 member, posting in our own Care2 News Network back on December 28th, who broke this major national story.

It's pretty amazing, actually, that mainstream journalists overlooked this bombshell statement by the president, as he was signing into law the just-passed postal reform act. But our intrepid Care2 member, "Dave C," did not overlook it. He spotted the item buried in a press release on the White House website, and became outraged at the idea that the president now was asserting the right to search through citizens' private mail without a warrant. So Dave C decided to spread the word via his favorite social network -- Care2. Later, the mainstream reporters realized they had been scooped and they've been trying to catch up ever since.

So what is the moral of the story for nonprofit sector online communications professionals?

First, never underestimate the power of social networks to help the Fourth Estate do their jobs properly and shine a bright light on what our government is doing. ("Thank you, Dave C!")

Second, when it comes to using people-powered online news networks to spread your message, it probably always makes sense to use the big dog, Digg.com. But while you're at it: Consider also using the Care2 News Network, which is one of the largest such networks (after Digg) and just may have the highest per capita concentration of values-driven and civically-active folks on the Web. As Dave C just proved, Care2 members really do make a difference in all sorts of ways -- even by serving as "Town Criers" when personal freedoms are threatened.

Looking further into this whole subject of Web-enabled citizen journalism, you will find a convergence of technologies, services, providers and skillsets that are contributing to the potential for a sea change in journalism.  Consider this: Video, audio, photo,  and text are blooming in ways we have never experienced before.  Relatively new services like YouTube, Yahoo! You Witness News and ABC's Be Seen and Be Heard are supporting video, while entrenched blogs are hosting thousands of pictures, text and audio files.  Even mobile phones can now post video, photos and text posts to social networks and citizen journalism outlets.

For example, I was struck recently by an article in The Washington Post entitled, "Chasing the Heat." It's about a group of private citizens in Washington , D.C. who, among other things, videotape the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.  Part of what amazed me is that these citizen journalists operate in the middle of the night despite holding regular day jobs.  I was also impressed to learn that they only respond to blazes of two alarms or more.  So the level of commitment is incredibly high for a volunteer crew, don't you think?  That said, at least one of the people sells his tapes to media outlets, so his commitment is a more than merely volunteerism.

So it appears that citizen journalism is on the rise, and with it -- social news networks. After all, the technology for capturing photos and video is finally affordable and easy to use, the people have an appetite for this kind of news, there are plenty of people willing to produce the content, and the services are in place to host the media. This is a recipe ripe for success.

But with all this information, how do we tell the wheat from the chaff?  It appears that Care2 and other social networks are well positioned to provide the means by which the community can determine relevance and bring important issues to the fore.  Within these social networks, the people-powered news networks enable the community to contribute stories and to vote for stories, thereby raising the rankings and increasing the exposure of the topic. 

That's exactly what happened when the Care2 News Network scored 54 "note it" recommendations for the story about the postal reform bill. If you compare this approach to traditional print media, you quickly see the potential for getting news faster, with more relevance to your values and interests based on the communities you join, and with far more exposure to topics that would otherwise get swept under the rug.  For these reasons, social news networks will likely contend very well with traditional news outlets in the near future. And that kind of competition is good for the (news) consumer!

Posted on Friday, January 5, 2007 at 06:16PM by Registered CommenterHatef Yamini in | Comments8 Comments | References1 Reference

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  • Response
    Response: Quick Hits — January 18, 2007
    at e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics on January 18, 2007
    14 Million Online Political Activists, according to Pew Report. Micah Sifry breaks the story, the San Jose Mercury News (among many others) covers it and the Pew site has the numbers. A word of caution before we get too excited — TV is still kin...

Reader Comments (8)

I don't see why you're so excited when that law was still passed and the President still has the power to do whatever he wants with your mail. I would be much more enthused if the "power of social networks" as you call it could be harnessed to turn outrage into effective political and/or social action.
January 7, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterDG
Actually, the news coverage I have read indicates that you are mistaken, on the facts. The postal reform law is one thing, and the President's signing statement -- in which he controversially asserted that this law gives him the right to search citizens' mail without permission -- is quite another. Almost nobody agrees with the Bush Administration's interpretation of this law, and it is doubtful that a federal court would agree that Congress intended for the Administration to have this power.

But the point is, nobody would know of the Administration's controversial interpretation of the law unless the press picked up on it. Which they didn't, at least not initially. A "citizen journalist" did, and then the mainstream press followed suit. Now civil liberties groups like the ACLU will be vigilant. The first time a plaintiff comes forward claiming that their mail has been searched without a warrant, the ACLU will probably sue the Administration to stop this activity. Of course, the ACLU will have to prove this happened, and that may be difficult. But at least now the people have a fighting chance. It's also possible that a government whistleblower might help reveal any attempts by the Administration to search citizens' mail, if the authorities actually start to do this.

So I suspect that Hatef's excitement results from the fact that: 1) The government was prevented from doing something "in the shadows" that rightly should be done only in the sunshine, where the people can debate it and the courts can settle any disputes; and 2) The person who "made a difference" in this case was an ordinary (albeit unusually vigilant) Care2 member, using the power of Care2's people-powered news network to spread the word, Paul Revere style, of a threat to the people.
January 7, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterClint
What is so exciting to me about all of this is that it is becoming more and more difficult for public officials and corporations to escape public scrutiny. And in terms of media we are switching from the tradiional top down of the tradional news outlet to the grassroots up format spurred on by citizen journalists everywhere that just need access to the internet and maybe a few basic digital tools. Who said the revolution wouldn't be televised? It will be, just not on tv...
January 8, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSQ
You seem to be overdramatizing even though it is a worthwhile cause. Can you speak more to the issue of privacy and scenarios that could happen rather than glorifying the web so much? Less "how did this slip through the cracks" (when we're all reading Digg rather than paying attention) and more on "they're coming to get you" (so do something about it while you still can). See what I'm saying?
January 8, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterRyan
You know this probably has nothing to do with Terrorism. I learned about this a week or so ago when the story actually came to light and to me this makes one wonder if the IRS isn't involved. The government has been wanting the get on the free money Bandwagon people call eBay for some time, what with the IRS wanting to tax people on their "supposed" income(even though it's second hand). And the fact that many eBayer's find clever ways to circumvent postal/custom costs by "creatively" filling out postal forms. Now the government can just search anything and everything relating to your mail and have a way to prove it, if you are in fact running an online business, then force you to pay taxes on everything.

Hate the IRS and Bush
January 8, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterE
Use some very strong crypto. Do you know if this "law" can sniff foreign messages?

Seems we have to block sending mail to USA...
January 8, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterBrZ
Here's a great cartoon about this story that showed up in the Washington Post on January 9th: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html
January 9, 2007 | Registered CommenterJustin Perkins
I think this will be a permanent location for the comic:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinion/ssi/images/Toles/c_01092007_520.gif
January 9, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterDrDigipol

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