Mobile community reporting : a grassroots perspective on journalism / Olivier Nyirubugara.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; The Conventional Way vs. the Alternative Way; Understanding the Difference; The Reporter and the Community ; Technology and the Community; This Book and Its Author ; At the Heart of Community Life; 1.1 Community; 1.2 Mobile Technology; 1.3 Reporting ; 1.4 Bridging Thinking and Saying; Conclusion; The Gates, Sources and Ethics; 2.1 Gatekeeping and Gatewatching; 2.2 MCR and Its Sources; 2.3 Ethical Considerations; Conclusion; Reporting Governance; 3.1 Governance Dilemmas; 3.2 Failures and Successes; 3.3 Community Initiatives; Conclusion.

Reporting the Rights of the Child4.1 Violations or What Appears So; 4.2 Children, Parental Responsibility and Customs; 4.3 Finding the Way; Conclusion; Environmental Reporting; 5.1 Nature Protection and Destruction; 5.2 Wastes and Pollution; 5.3 De-bureaucratising Climate Change; Conclusion; Conclusions and Paths for Future Exploration; 6.1 Filling the Gaps; 6.2 Facing Challenges; 6.3 Advocacy & Activism; 6.4 Development-Project Communication; References; Notes; Appendix; The Voices of Africa Media Foundation.

Almost everyone in Africa knows a mobile phone, the most widespread communication technology on the continent. That technology started as a voice-only tool before integrating other functions such as messaging, sound and image recording and many others. This book is about ways in which some of those new functions are giving a new face to the field and practice of journalism. That field has for long been dominated by professionally trained journalists, but the trend set in motion by the arrival of the World Wide Web and the mobile phone, among other technologies, is that ordinary people, including members of local communities in marginalised areas, are increasingly doing journalism. In this book, the author presents what he calls the Mobile Community Reporting approach based on a six-year training experiment in which he was involved as trainer and coach in eight African countries. The main argument underlying the MCR approach is the following: if a member of the community covers news using a reporting tool that is familiar to that community, and taking into account the values, interests and worldviews of that community, chances of capturing what the community thinks are very high.

Includes bibliographical references.

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