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| Citizen Reporters in Their Own Words |
| Four reporters from three continents come together on the OhmyNews podium, June 25 |
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Jason M. Sparapani (jayspar)  |
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Published 2005-06-27 18:00 (KST) |
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 | |  The forum sessions took place all day Saturday at the COEX conference hall #402. | | | ©2005 Nam S.Y. | | In the stifling heat of the COEX Conference Center, and in speeches that ranged from exultant to moving, four professional journalists from different corners of the world spoke of the media situations in their native countries, their experiences as OhmyNews international citizen reporters and their aspirations as reporters.
Moderated by OhmyNews International editor Todd Thacker, the 2 p.m. session of the OhmyNews International Citizen Reporters' Forum was the second of two titled "Citizen Reporters in Their Own Words," and focused on the international citizen journalists. The session began with Ana Maria Brambilla, a graduate student in communications in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.
Discussing the rigorous credentials necessary to practice journalism in her native Brazil, Brambilla praised OhmyNews' commitment to giving people the chance to speak out.
"I'm a journalist, but I can and I need to see what other people have to say, because they have something to say and they would like to tell their stories," she said. "It's a way to feel alive!"
Speaking of the information age as "one of the most important revolutions of all times," Brambilla linked open-source software and the OhmyNews approach: "In the former, the source-code is open; in the latter, the publishing tools are open."
In a speech titled "Iran: Freedom of Expression in Tatters," Omid Habibinia discussed the pall of injustice in Iran, from which he fled for Belgium, and focused on the dangers facing journalists.
"Almost every journalist who is not completely on the side of the Islamic Republic is summoned to court at least once," he said.
In one vivid example, Habibinia described the fate of Iranian-Canadian Zahra Kazemi, a photojournalist who was arrested, raped and killed in Tehran and then buried in secrecy.
As a journalist whose own Web site has been hacked, Habibinia's depiction of censorship, silencing and imprisonment in Iran was grim, but he holds out hope for change.
"But as it is so obvious, nobody can stand against the changing season. Someday we may have a happy spring of freedom in that ancient Persian country."
Maria Pastora Sandoval Campos gave a bubbly and inspiring speech about her career choice. An assistant professor of digital journalism in Santiago, Chile, Sandoval Campos spoke of the class she teaches on participatory journalism -- centering on OhmyNews -- her excitement at writing in English, and her desire to start a similar project in Spanish.
"OhmyNews is an opportunity to give something you can't give anywhere else. It is a place where you can say the things you want to say, but with responsibility."
Starting his speech with greetings in his native Vietnamese and Korean, Nguyen Ngoc Trung spoke of his country's fascination with Korean culture. Nguyen, whose articles for OhmyNews have targeted Vietnamese life, media and education, paralleled his experience as a citizen journalist with his day-to-day job as a writer for an online newspaper in Vietnam.
"The cyber press in Vietnam is just in the first stage of development, and that's why online reporters like me have much responsibility for its progress."
In a comment that prompted a few scattered claps in the audience, Nguyen made an appeal for cards that identify citizen reporters as OhmyNews reporters, saying that he had to use identification issued by his own news agency for stories.
In the brief question-and-answer session that followed, Trung answered a question from a reporter from the Bangkok newspaper the Nation on whether any of the speakers would accept a job in mainstream media if offered, saying, "I belong to Vietnam. I am very grateful to my Vietnamese teachers so I have to contribute more to my country before I can accept that offer."
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©2005 OhmyNews
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