11 March 2010Komang, Iman, Anton, Imung dan Edy

What is unieuws.nl?Unieuws.nl is a website that promotes

citizen journalism in Utrecht Province, the Netherlands

It’s a unit of RTV, established on April 2006

In the beginning, they put 10.000 euro to prepare the website

They put 20.000 euro extra to improve the website

Why citizen journalism?Province Utrecht has 1,1 milion inhabitantsBut RTV only has 50 journalist They think it’s a

good idea to promote citizen journalism, to

better cover places and events that they can’t reach

OrganizationIt’s a non profit and commercial website.

No adds!!Only two editors in chargeThe editors work 24 hours/day to monitor

the citizen’s posting, but they can do it from their mobile phone

Editor only moderate comments, postings, and verify and confirm certain stories.

Editors can remove postings that violate the rules.

MechanismContributors have to register to

the website if they want to post news, pictures and videos,Unieuws has 6.000 members but only 100 blogs regularly

Bloggers can post anytime, there’s no regular updates’s or deadlines.

Basic guideline: no commercial postings, ads, pornography and racism.

ProcedureUnieuws only provide platform for bloggers

to upload any kind information.If a blogger breaks the rule three times,

editor can ban their IP address.each users’ identity has a link to facebook and twitter. So, it is very difficult for bloggers to fake their identity.

Bloggers can upload story, picture and video using mobile phone

How to attract the citizen?You have to make them feel like at home ----

developing a sense of ownershipsIn the begining, they try to invite certain

people to write, send picture and video. They also conduct training about citizen journalism.

Now, they use RTV radio and tv to inform people about the website.

ImpactIf there’s something newsworthy in

unieuws.nl, RTV will pick it and use it in the main RTV website.

At one occation, the Major of Utrecht responds directly to a story.

The end