BCM 111 Blog Post 2/3
Question: Consider what we’ve learned this week about global news reporting, and the dimension of social media in citizen journalism. Do you believe citizen journalism through social media is good, bad, or a bit of both? Why? Use academic readings to justify your conclusions. In doing so, choose a country/region of the world (that is not the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand or Australia) and discuss how it involves citizen journalism. Is it a practice that is beneficial for that region, exposing truths and stories the traditional media doesn’t cover? Does it obscure truth and spread misinformation, muddying the waters of good journalism in the region?
Just because the dominant culture or regime has not declared war, does not mean you’re not part of a citizens’ army. This idea for activism can be applied to the regions of Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico, the list goes on… If you’re not an activist for something, perhaps you’ll fall for anything. Living under a dictatorship, injustice, corruption or colonisation, one might find themselves an activist. Often under injustice, the underdog becomes the watchdog. Censorship is often a problem but activism comes in many forms. This blog will describe censorship types, impacts for activist-journalism and propose interdisciplinary collaboration, convergence and code-switching as key strengths in producing “artivism” (Bruguera, 2013). Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo (2019) articulate, the types of censorship, the worst being death. There are five types of censorship that impact both citizen-activist and professional journalists; self-censorship, administrative, espionage, monetary silencing and inverse censorship (Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo, 2019; Johnson & Santos, 2013; Pinto, 2008; Savage & Monroy-Hernandez, 2018; Waisbord, 2009).
Unpacking these, reveal a violent reality. Something, possibly not considered as part of Australian activist-journalism but, perhaps should. Self-censorship by activist-journalists is often the outcome of direct threats, acts of violence, sabotage, even murder. Administrative censorship is pressure by the state onto media councils and companies, forcing editorial content to favourably align with governmental or dictatorship rhetoric. Strategies of administrative censorship include manipulating or changing legislation to control reporting. Consequently, these pressures can lead back to self censorship, for fear of reprisals (Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo, 2019; Johnson & Santos, 2013; Pinto, 2008; Savage & Monroy-Hernandez, 2018; Waisbord, 2009).
Censorship invoked by espionage often includes surveillance and hacking online activities and media platforms. This includes, profiling and targeting activist-citizen-journalists, members or groups to apply pressure, threat and or the dissemination of misinformation or propaganda. Sabotage also exists in the physical world for both professional journalists and activists. The monetization of censorship control is remuneration to extract pro-state or pro-cartel, editorial content. Thus putting pressure on outlets and or reporters to depict regimes favourably, locally and or internationally. Drug cartels often use monetisation as inverse censorship. That is money to report violent events as a method of sending threats to their enemies (Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo, 2019; Johnson & Santos, 2013; Pinto, 2008; Savage & Monroy-Hernandez, 2018; Waisbord, 2009).
Citizen-activist journalism, however flawed or unprofessional it may seem at times, is necessary, fact checking is also always necessary. One example of citizen net-activism, Blog del Narco appeared in 2010. This anonymous blog reported on cartel activity and violence not represented in mainstream media. Net-activism, while being able to reach a larger audience than traditional types of media, leaves groups and its members vulnerable to being surveilled, individually identified, intimidated or worse. Suppression of information might be seen as one of the least harmful ways of silencing people when persecution and or even death could be an outcome. From these examples of censorship, activist or watchdog journalism is a deadly but necessary business in the South Americas (Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo, 2019; Johnson & Santos, 2013; Pinto, 2008; Savage & Monroy-Hernandez, 2018; Waisbord, 2009).
As I alluded in the first paragraph, activism comes in many forms and one key disruption to the censorship of activism is socially engaged, interdisciplinary collaboration. Intersectional activism is often seen in art. Moreover, it also often intersects with other significant issues caused by injustice, such as First Nations sovereignty and the environment. The collaborative video work, Con las guardianas del agua (With the guardians of water); (Morales et al, 2019), demonstrates the power of combining activist-journalism, contemporary art, technology and social media. Interdisciplinary socially engaged collaboration compounds the power to raise awareness, interrogate and interrupt injustice. This kind of collaborative convergence, not only strengthens the activism but also the complexities of code-switching dynamic languages, by the underdog and allies alike (Gonzales-Quinones & Machin-Mastromatteo, 2019; Johnson & Santos, 2013; Morales, et al, 2019; Pinto, 2008; Savage & Monroy-Hernandez, 2018; Waisbord, 2009).
Reference List:
Bruguera, Tania, 2013, Art + activism = artivism, Ted Talk Archive, Distributed YouTube, accessed: 22.08.2022.
Gonzalez-Quinones, Fidel & Machin-Mastromatteo, Juan D, 2019, ‘On Media Censorship: Freedom of expression & the risks of journalism in Mexico’, Information Development Index, Vol.35(4), p.666-670, Sage Publications, accessed: 20.08.2022.
Johnson, Shelly & Santos, Alessandra, 2013, ‘REDressing Invisibility & Marking Violence Against Indigenous Women in the Americas Through Art, Activism & Advocacy’, First People’s Child & Family Review, Vol.7, No.2, p.97-111, erudit.org, https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/fpcfr/1900-v1-n1-fpcfr05243/1068844ar.pdf, accessed: 20.08.2022.
Morales, Daniela; Hernandez, Paz Maria Sintia Plaza; Cifuentes, Socorro Cancino; Denham, Ben, 2019, Con las guardianas del agua (With the guardians of water), blog post, Remedios Remix, collective workshop in Water Conflicts in Abya Yala: Sociology of the Image, La Paz, Bolivia, https://remediosremix.art/rearguard-remix-remix-de-retaguardia/, https://remediosremix.art/2019/12/19/tenemos-redes-que-seguir-tejiendo/, accessed: 14-19.08.2022.
Pinto, Juliet, 2008, Muzzling the watchdog: The case of disappearing watchdog journalism from Argentine mainstream news, Journalism, Vol.9(6), p.750-774, DOI: 10.1177/1464884908096244, accessed:18.08.2022.
Savage, Saiph & Monroy-Hernández, Andre, 2018, ‘The Courage For” Facebook Pages: Advocacy Citizen Journalism in the Wild’, Citeseer, psu.edu, accessed: 20.08.2022.
Waisbord, Silvio, 2009, Advocacy Journalism in a Global Context in The Handbook of Journalism Studies, Ch.26, p.391-405, Wahl-Jorgensen, Karin & Hanitzch, Thomas (eds.), International Communication Association Handbook Series, Routledge, New York & London.
Bibliography:
Anonymous, 2010, Blog del Narco, https://www.blogdelnarcomexico.com/, accessed: 28.08.2022.
Gonzalez, Tanya, 2009, Art, Activism & Community; An introduction to Latina/o Literature, in Ethnic Literary Tradition in American Children’s Literature, Stewart MP & Atkinson Y (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, New York, DOI: 10.105719780230101524_15, accessed: 15.08.2022.
Ksiazek & Webster, 2008, Cultural Proximity I Audience Behaviour: The Role of Language in Patterns of Polarisation & Multi-Cultural Fluency, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol.52:3. P.485-503, accessed: 08.2022.
Lyon, David, 2002, Everyday Surveillance: Personal Data & Social Classifications; Information, Communication & Society, Iss.5, No.2, p.242-257, Taylor & Francis, accessed: 04.04.2022.
O’Shaughnessy, M, 2012, Globalisation in Media & Society, p.458-471, Oxford University Press, England, accessed: 08.2022.
Todd, Zoe, 2015, Indigenising the Anthropocene, Art in the Anthropocene: encounters among aesthetics, politics, environments & epistemologies, Open Humanities Press.
Wolfe, Patrick, 2006, Settler colonialism & the elimination of the native, Journal of Genocide Research, Vol.8:4, p.387-409, DOI:10.1080/146235220601056240, accessed: 12.08.2022.
Images & Videos:
Asmann, Parker, 2018, Latin America is the deadliest region for environmental activists, Open Democracy, blog, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/latin-america-is-deadliest-region-for-environmental-activists, Image: accessed: 21.08.2022.
Bruguera, Tania, 2013, Art + activism = artivism, Ted Talk Archive, Distributed YouTube, accessed: 22.08.2022.
Morales, Daniela; Hernandez, Paz Maria Sintia Plaza; Cifuentes, Socorro Cancino; Denham, Ben, 2019, Con las guardianas del agua (With the guardians of water), Remedios Remix, With the Guardians of Water / Con las Guardianas del agua – English Subtitles https://remediosremix.art/2019/10/29/with-the-guardians-of-water/, Distributed: YouTube, accessed: 14-19.08.2022.
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Juundaal Strang-Yettica 