Voices from the Margins

Topic in OhmyNews Citizen Reporters

Jane Abao

Hi from the Philippines! Thanks for the invitation. I do not believe that after one graduates from the university it is time to hang one's diploma. I see that we have to hew out a line towards placing communication on equal footing for everyone. Wayward media had its power for a loooooooong while that it has come to its decadent end - looking at manufactured news even for its fare. Let's not say we don't know of this. Congratulations to those who make sure voices from the margins are not muffled. Thanks, Todd for the thought.

Oh, blimey! Will 38,000 be emailing me?

OhmyNews International said we were 38,000 citizen reporters all over the globe. Todd Thacker had opened a Google group for us to introduce ourselves together and be able to discuss issues. This was a group where membership was by invitation. I felt grateful, as I was one of the first ones invited. Suddenly my gmail kept burning blue all the time. I was receiving emails after emails and I could not concentrate on my writing.

I went then to my profile in OMNI and shifted my email address to that of my Yahoo. I use this address for matters that I could attend to later. Gmail is reserved for urgent matters. In Yahoo, I was told to apply for gmail as our group was that of Google. I then began having second thoughts. Will I unsubscribe from this group? If not, what if the 38,000 email me? There was not much option as this was a getting-to-know-you affair. I left it at that: no return to my gmail account.

As it is, it was about Chile we were talking about. One had introduced herself saying she was from Chile and did not know English. I thought we were with the international version and had expected that everyone did. The subsequent emails from the citizen reporters revolved around that language challenge. I was writing something that had a deadline and I was beginning to hate those Chile conversations.

Then the nagging thought came back: for a formally trained journalist like me, will I be able to stand mixing with unschooled journalists which citizen journalism espouses? Right now, I am piqued even by the slow and groping stance of others who talk of things I think are non-essential.

Jay Rosen of Poynter, maybe now I’ll begin to read what you were saying about audience - all your ideas about repackaging media today. Maybe I will not throw those principles we were taught in journalism school, after all. Maybe I will join your fight.