From the Holland Sentinel
According to the Knight Community News Network, which tracks citizen journalism outlets, there are more than 1,000 citizen and community media sites across North America. One of Holland’s nearest citizen news publications is the Grand Rapids-based Rapidian, established in 2009 as a project of the non-profit Grand Rapids Community Media Center. The Rapidian’s news is distributed through its main website and linked to from other avenues such as Twitter.
The Rapidian focuses on local news, but the citizen news concept is becoming essential during global crises. This past January, international news organizations raced to cover the Tunisian political protests. On Dec. 27, 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi immolated himself to protest the police confiscation of his fruit and vegetable cart. The ensuing protests led President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to step down and flee to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14. The protests soon spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and other countries including Saudi Arabia and Libya.
Major news organizations covered the event, but not all information came from corporate-owned media giants. Amira al-Hussaini, the regional editor covering the Middle East and North Africa for the online citizen news blog Global Voices, reported Tunisia’s protests before traditional print and broadcast news outlets did. With its motto, “The world is talking. Are you listening?” Global Voices’ Middle East coverage was discussed even by a New York Times story.
