Time: 10:30am - 4:30pm Venue: Room G5, Ground Floor, Law Building, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS Mile End Road, United Kingdom
Citizen Journalism Workshop Series for Graduate Students and Researchers jointly organised by International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Social Media Knowledge Exchange of University of Cambridge.
Armed with mobile phones and digital cameras, civil society activists are engaging in innovative forms of citizen journalism to challenge entrenched state power structures. The production, publication and circulation of user-generated content documenting human rights abuses is not only creating ‘discourses of resistance’ but also exposing state crime. This workshop will examine methods of digitized resistance in two of the most repressive regimes: Egypt and Burma. Moreover, it will examine how civic engagement is sharpening public accountability as well as the democratization of knowledge through a blend of citizen journalism and digital activism. As Meier asserts, “the future of political activism in repressive environments belongs to those who mix and master both digital activism and civil resistance – digital resistance”(Meier, 2008).
Practical workshop component: Through the sourcing of online information and hands-on engagement with data relating to Egypt and Burma, workshop participants will be able to better understand “crowd-powered” evidence gathering practices as well as some of the challenges confronting citizen journalists. More importantly, the production of digital content by workshop participants in the form of ‘social media outputs’ can lead to interesting insights into how citizen journalists use data-driven information as a technological weapon of resistance.
A light lunch will be served.
For directions to the venue, please refer to the map.
This event is free but prior booking is required. Register online via Eventbrite.
For more information on this event, please email lawevents@qmul.ac.uk.
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