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| OhmyNews Kicks Off Its Global Newsroom |
| As the 2005 Citizen Reporters' Forum gets underway, writers from 25 nations meet face-to-face |
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Todd Thacker (todd)  |
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Published 2005-06-22 19:22 (KST) |
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Citizen reporter Rupesh Silwal nearly didn't make it to Seoul -- twice.
A Nepali reporter by profession, he is one of 50 invitees to the June 23-26 OhmyNews International Citizen Reporter's Forum 2005. His first trip to South Korea, Silwal arrived in Seoul Wednesday after an initial couple of visa and immigration setbacks.
"My first impression of Korea was it was very strict. An Indian man and I were stopped at Immigration in Incheon Airport. When I asked why, they said officials were going to confirm our visas. Mine was fine, but the Indian man turned out to be illegal," Silwal told OhmyNews Wednesday afternoon.
Ten days earlier, Silwal's application for a tourist visa to South Korea was turned down by the embassy in Kathmandu. After some telephone calls by OhmyNews staff to confirm the legitimacy of his application to attend the forum, a Korean official in the Nepalese capital finally approved his voyage.
Given the available air routes offered by OhmyNews sponsor Asiana Airlines, Silwal had to travel to Delhi and spend a day waiting for the Seoul leg of his journey. While there, he used some of the downtime writing and submitting an OhmyNews story about his expectations for the upcoming conference.
"The temperature in Delhi is too hot. I am sweating but excited about going to Korea! I am thinking about having fun with my new friends in a new place," he wrote on June 21, adding, "I first heard about OhmyNews International after watching a report on the BBC. I wrote down the email address and contacted the editor. But I never thought that a report telecast on the BBC would lead me to Seoul!"
Outside the Incheon Airport terminal en route to his hotel near the forum venue of COEX Convention Center in Gangnam, central Seoul, he wasn't disappointed.
"I think Korea is so beautiful. Nepal doesn't have that much vegetation. It's so green here," he said.
Silwal recounted how on a nearly empty bus from the airport, the first Korean person he asked advice from -- though far from fluent in English -- did his best to explain the foreign-sounding place names in his itinerary.
"Though Immigration seemed strict, the man on the bus who really tried to help me showed how warm Koreans' hearts are."
| | Citizen Reporters: Friendly Strangers | | | |
In the run-up to the forum, OhmyNews' 50 invited citizen reporters -- who have never met but who know each other by reputation as they share space on the OhmyNews main page -- began writing to each other spontaneously, introducing themselves and setting up informal meetings at the various hubs like Frankfurt and JFK where they are catching shared flights to Seoul.
"Hi! From the end of the world, Chile (south of South America) I say hello to you and I'm very happy to go Corea next week!" wrote Maria Pastora Sandoval Campos, from Santiago, who initiated the friendly email dialogue.
"I am looking forward to hearing about all the latest advances and trends in global e-media journalism and meeting you fellow 'citizen journalists," wrote Canadian citizen reporter Jeff Eagar from Tokyo. "Also other than being just a straight dissemination of information, I hope to have a few beers and enjoy the Korean nightlife." / T. Thacker | | | | | |
More than 70 OhmyNews citizen reporters, panelists and international press are converging on Seoul for this first OhmyNews citizen reporter forum, which opens Friday morning at COEX. Many are currently en route or awaiting their connections at transit hubs in Frankfurt, JFK, Singapore and Bangkok.
Selected from hundreds of global citizen reporters, 50 men and women from such countries as Iran, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Norway, France, Ireland and the United States and Canada will see the inner face of OhmyNews and meet face-to-face to share their experiences as participants in participatory journalism.
On tap for Friday and Saturday at COEX are panelists Erik Moller, founder of Wikinews, and author and journalist Jeremy Iggers, among others. Roundtable discussions, lectures, speeches and tours of some of South Korea's IT hotspots will also be available.
The OhmyNews International Citizen Reporters' Forum wraps up Sunday morning.
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©2005 OhmyNews
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