Do You Want To Monitor Local Elections? Be A Citizen Reporter Today

Don't just be an armchair critic. Be a mover and shaker. Be a Citizen Reporter.

FOR all Zimbabweans who want to help bring to notice issues that plague elections from a ‘pedestrian’ view, here is an opportunity to articulate your problems, highlight the dirty and the tardy, and most importantly, to right a wrong.

We have noticed that for the first time in history, the upcoming 2018 polls are likely going to be monitored by ordinary citizens —YOU—included as opposed to traditional institutions that have in the past enjoyed a monopoly on critical information pertaining to our lives.

So far, there is abundant user-generated content about, for example, the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) circulating online. This content is generated and disseminated by watchful citizens like you who want to make their communities and country a better place.

A call to action: Be a Citizen Reporter

But in the backdrop of the proliferation of fake news, how do we trust citizen-generated information?

The Citizen Bulletin, an audience-first citizen journalism platform—which recently won the Hub Unconference Award for Best Citizen Journalism platform in Zimbabwe, is harvesting and authenticating user-generated content to produce a credible and trusted local news ecosystem, especially during elections.  

Against this background, we are a launching a citizen journalism campaign dubbed #WeReportBVR, which is going to run throughout the elections period.

The process

Would-be Citizen Reporters are invited to capture issues they, and others in their localities face using the following platforms:

• Hashtag it: If you are posting on your social media wall (i.e Twitter and Facebook), use the hashtag #WeReportBVR.
• Direct Message: You can alternatively send your content to us via our Twitter and Facebook Pages.
• WhatsApp it: You can use our WhatsApp number +44 7379 371968 to send content to us.
• Blog it: If you want to be a regular Citizen Reporter, you can REGISTER directly on our platform and be part of our growing network of dedicated citizen reporters. Try it HERE. 

Content format and publication

Our Citizen Reporters are expected to abide by a Code of Conduct such as the one above

We prefer videos (not more than 60 seconds long), text (not more than 100 words long) and pictures (not more than 5). The content that we receive will be published on The CB News Platform after verification and authentication. Contributors must be willing to respond to follow up questions from our edit team during the verification process.

 Be a Citizen Reporter 

Where we believe we can make a difference, we have not hesitated to take up cudgels — and thus why we invite you to be a Citizen Reporter so that you are not an armchair critic but a mover and shaker contributing to health information ecologies in local communities.

The Citizen Bulletin is a non-profit local news platform focused on user-generated content and public powered stories. The platform is run by local professional journalists who are driven by the passion for outcomes and solutions based journalism. The platform recently clinched the Best Citizen Journalism platform in Zimbabwe—and is currently immersed in the development of a citizen journalism platform to help professionalize the practice of citizen journalism in Zimbabwe.