In May 2012, residents of the West Bank village of Aseera al-Qibliya captured footage of settlers using live fire during a skirmish with Arab villagers. At least one villager was injured. The video cameras used to capture the violence were part of a batch of cameras given out to residents by a left-wing advocacy organization.
The footage was extremely shaky and didn't show the moment when the guns were fired, prompting the Israeli Defense Force to downplay its seriousness by saying it did "not reflect the incident in its entirety." The video was posted on the Internet and shown by numerous international news outlets.
My piece will examine who the citizen journalists of Gaza and the West Bank are, how and where they get equipment and training, and what outside organizations (if any) back and support their work. It would also look at citizen journalism clubs and what kind of work they are doing, and examine the value and impact of reporting done with little to no editorial or professional guidelines.
In-person and telephone interviews, background research, on-site reporting, photography, and video will be used to capture the story.
Sponsors to this project will receive a profile e-package of Gaza/West Bank Citizen Journalism outlets and highlights of their work for easy browsing and consumption.
