Armed with tech gadgets and a nuanced understanding of social media, citizen journalists outdid their traditional counterparts during the Sunflower movement protests last year, according to a new book released by National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Journalism.
The book, titled Sunflower Movement, New Citizenry and New Media (我是公民, 也是媒體), details the in-depth reporting and analysis done by eight citizen journalism groups that were active during the landmark demonstrations in March and April last year — in which tens of thousands protested against the government’s strong-handed approach on a proposed service trade pact with China.
Put together by institute chairperson Hung Chen-ling (洪貞玲), the book discusses the innovative ways in which social media was used to mobilize protesters, swiftly exerting a great amount of influence over the almost 23 days the legislative chamber was occupied.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Essays in the book were authored by more than a dozen students and faculty, and they are largely based on interviews conducted between October last year and January, discussing important new-media organizations or platforms such as News E Forum, Shot for Democracy, g0v, PTT, CivilMedia@Tw and Watchout.
Specific chapters are devoted to the ways in which new media facilitated international outreach, taking a detailed look at the international division of the Sunflower movement — which was tasked with increasing international media coverage — and the overseas demonstrations launched by Taiwanese across the globe.
At a press conference in Taipei yesterday, Hung said that the heightened influence of new media organizations signaled an end of traditional media organizations’ monopoly over public debate.
“By publishing such a book, we are not only presenting a record of the Sunflower movement, but also revealing innovative methods of communication and social action,” Hung said.
She added that many young people have continued to strive for a more democratic society through continued participation in the numerous activist organizations that blossomed in the aftermath of the Sunflower movement.
Chen Pin-chieh (陳品潔), a recent graduate from National Taiwan Normal University who authored the chapters on the Sunflower movement’s international outreach, said that the movement accumulated valuable resources that could be utilized by future civic movements — including a database of contact information for foreign media organizations.
She said that international coverage of social movements also has an impact on domestic coverage, adding that issues such as the strengthening of democracy resonated with an international audience.
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