I contributed a chapter to volume two of an
excellent book on journalism, titled "Citizen Journalism, Global
Perspectives", edited by Einar Thorsen and Stuart Allan. The book offers
"an overview of key developments in citizen journalism since
2008, including the use of social media in crisis reporting and
provides a new set of case studies highlighting important instances of
citizen reporting of crisis events in a complementary range of national
contexts."
My chapter, titled "Reporting a revolution and its
aftermath: when activists drive the news coverage", offers an attempt to
understand the role of social media-equipped activists in driving the
news coverage of the Egyptian Revolution and its associated events
through a case study that looks at the reporting of five selected news
organizations, Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Russia Today and XINHUA. At least
four of the five news organizations included in the study were found to
be practicing ‘counter-elite sourcing’, which is commonly associated
with alternative media outlets when “they oppose the conventions and
representations of the mainstream media” by privileging activists and
other marginalized voices over elite and official sources. My study
suggests that social media-equipped activists have played a significant
role in pushing news media to change its practices; departing from their
conventional elite- sourcing routine towards more source diversity and
non-elite sourcing practices.
For more about the book: http://citizenjournalism.me/
