Journalism is changing due to the Internet and the new ways people access information and correlate facts about the state, the nation and the world. Professionals in journalism are struggling to find out how to remain relevant in this changing paradigm.
Mobile Maine is a web-based community journalism initiative, seeking to strengthen ties between Maine residents and the University of Maine students and faculty. Mobile Maine will link student journalists with community members to provide a unique type of news content where stories are told on a neighborhood level–not just about the community members, but by the community members.
In this model of journalism, citizens are equals in the news building process. Mobile Maine will connect student journalists, citizens, community leaders, public officials and University of Maine faculty experts to produce interactive news content based on the concept of collaborative journalism. Collaborative journalism gives citizens an active role in the news process, from collecting and reporting on stories to collaborating with Mobile Maine staff to guide news coverage on issues relevant to the communities served. In particular, Mobile Maine will reach out to underrepresented communities such as the youth and the elderly to find new voices that have previously been ignored or marginalized in traditional media coverage.
Using readily-available technological tools, Mobile Maine will promote the First Amendment ideals of freedom of the press, moving beyond the traditional one-way communication models used by broadcast media corporations. The Mobile Maine model will rely on a two-way communication model where citizens are not just the audience for news, but also an important source of information and a sounding board for the relevance of specific news content within their communities.
As an entity of the University of Maine, Mobile Maine will strive to disseminate important research information from faculty experts to community populations in a manner that is relevant and meaningful to local citizens. Mobile Maine will also provide citizens with an updated channel for receiving news through the use of mobile cellular devices.
In 2009, the University of Maine Department of Communications and Journalism beta launched Mobile Maine News. This site, created as part of the broadcast journalism curriculum, will allow student journalists to post print, audio and video content to the web. This content will then be available to citizens across the State of Maine. What makes this project unique is that citizens will be asked to act as “community journalists.” This role will involve citizens being able to provide feedback on news coverage, as well as post their own print, audio and video content.
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