There’s a fundamental difference between reporting on stories that people just want to hear, like what outfit a celebrity is wearing (well, not everyone wants to know that but clearly some do), and reporting on stories that have a meaning, have a purpose, that highlight an issue or someone’s struggle.
It’s quite clear which one community reporting resembles, and it’s for these reasons why this form of reporting is vital in society, and why there is a place for it.
Human-interest stories are everywhere, in every form of journalism and reporting, and of course they are, these are the kinds of stories that resonate with people the most, but human interest stories aren’t presented in the same way with community reporting.
There is no material or monitory gain for the community reporters who are out on the streets next to the local buskers finding out about their dreams as a performer, or sat with a vulnerable homeless person asking about their plight. These reporters don’t do it to exploit it, they do it to highlight it, to question it, to tackle it. Community reporting is to represent the underrepresented in the community, to be the voice of the unheard.
These real life struggles that people face at grass roots is captured with community reporting.
Whether it’s tackling a taboo subject or questioning a controversial or grey area, reflecting the lives of the local community and telling their story is at the core of what community reporting is all about.
It’s a unique opportunity for those underrepresented in the community to tell their story, talk about the challenges they’ve faced, and reflect on how they overcame them – this, is not something you get with mainstream or common reporting.
This is why community reporting is needed. This is why there is a place for it. This is what it means to me.