robert fitzgerald, phd

For many of us the prospect of a Federal Election with its party political broadcasts and media spin has us reaching for the off-button. This is a time where broadcast media loses what limited capacity it has for nuanced communication and becomes a blunt instrument wielded by a few. There is no point escaping online either as John Howard and Kevin Rudd have just discovered the one:many potential of services such as YouTube. For many us the internet is about a different sort of attitude and approach that values participation and community enagagement. In this spirit I was interested to learn from my colleague, Axel Bruns, about his new project - youdecide2007.org. Quoting from the website this "...is a citizen journalism project which will offer a grassroots, electorate-by-electorate coverage of the 2007 Australian Federal Election...[and] ...will coordinate a service that allows ordinary Australians to report on the election from their own, local perspective, in a way that takes local issues into account." Using local folk as news "anchors" this project will give us insights to way citizen journalism might (or might not) work to engage individuals and their communities in issues that matter to them. Take a tour and sign-up...Australia Needs You!