Sunday, February 22, 2009

Indian TV station offers prizes to citizen journalists for "news reality" programming

Amrita TV, a satellite channel based in India's southern state of Kerala, claims to have pioneered "news reality shows" based on citizen journalism.

Starting October of 2008, stories filed by 15 citizen reporters were broadcast Monday-Thursday over 64 episodes.

And on Sunday, the best of 5 finalists got cash prizes after their stories, categorized under "Investigation," "Story," "Crusader," "Anti-corruption," or "Special Story," were evaluated by a jury in Trivandrum.

One report said that "each of the five [finalist] citizen journalists held the jury and audiences spellbound with their amazing stories and scoops complemented by breathtaking footage, some being sting operations," adding that the contest was "a tightly fought grand finale."

A. Shaijumon, 27, a college lecturer from Kollam, took home the crown -- and a cash booty of 150,000 rupees (about $3100). Read more here.

No comments: