Ecuador Partner Makes News Website for and about ‘Regular People’
May 20 2010, Ecuador [EC], Media
- Source:
- Anne Marijke Podt [ampodt(at)iicd.org]
- Country:
- Ecuador [EC]
- Sector:
- Media
“The people that are featured on our website are not ministers or spokespersons of organisations,” says editor Juan Carlos Cabezas of Ecuadorian news website Ciudadania Informada. “We mostly focus on ordinary people on the streets, ‘regular people’.” The IICD supported Ciudadania Informada project is featured in a video that was released earlier this year.
The video shows how news is collected and introduces some of the journalists. It also shows how mobile phones are used to deliver news quicker. Journalists take photos, upload them and then they are processed and placed on the website of Ciudadania Informada. “We use new technologies to send text and pictures straight from the places where news happens,” says Cabezas. The project also accommodates the publication of blogs, electronic forums and interactive graphics.
The aim of Ciudadania Informada is to cover various news topics on a daily basis such as political, legislative , electoral and Latin American matters. Local journalists from regional news agencies in the provinces of Azuay, Guayas, Imbabura and Orellana produce the news. Using local journalists outside of the city provides an alternative to the news presented from an urban view. Ciudadania Informada is supported by IICD since 2007.