Melton Fellows Turned Citizen Reporters

“Everyone seems to be catching the Punjabi wedding fever because of the ‘fun’ quotient in these weddings! Every Punjabi tradition, both before and after the marriage, seems to impress one and all! A Punjabi wedding might be irritating at times, too loud, sometimes too fragrant, sometimes too full of people, but it’s definitely exciting and gripping!”

- Nickhil Sharma, Melton Fellow

November and December 2012 saw five Melton Fellows participate in a Citizen Media Writing Workshop. Under the guidance of Katrin Zinoun, Lingua Editor Deutsch for Global Voices, the Fellows explored the differences between traditional and citizen media, before venturing on to write blog posts about topics such as:

• the German government’s copy editing the annual poverty report to hide the growing inequality
• a fight between a local villager in Hunan Province and a food vendor from Xinjiang over the price of a nut cake, highlighting the tensions between various ethnicities within China
• and the trend towards Punjabi style weddings in India and Indian communities around the world.

The Fellows’ posts used articles from the blogosphere of their countries as sources. Their topics highlight the potential of citizen media to amplify “voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media,” as the mission of Global Voices emphasizes.

At the moment, the blog posts are being revised. Soon we will be sharing them on the Melton Foundation blog for all of you to read.

The workshop is part of an effort to build a sustained cooperation with Global Voices. The next step will be taken by the Global Melton Voices Project Team, where five Melton Fellows will be teamed up with experienced bloggers from Global Voices and provide content for the Global Voices website. Stay tuned for more news from this cooperation. And if you would like to get involved and make your own contribution to citizen media or Global Voices, contact mlang@meltonfoundation.org for more information and opportunities.