RIGHT  TO  INFORMATION  CASE  STUDY:    CHECKDESK  -­‐  DEVELOPING  CITIZEN  JOURNALISM  IN  THE  ARAB  REGION  Tom  Trewinnard  –  Research  and  Communications  Manager,  Meedan  

January  17,  2013  

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The  Arab  spring  can  be  seen  as  product  of  a  rapidly  changing  information  ecosystem:  With  the  

advent   of   social   media,   authoritarian   states   lost   the   ability   to   stifle   dissenting   narratives   of  

election  fraud,  corruption,  police  brutality,  and  protest.  The  growing  dissonance  between  state  

media   and   coverage   by   citizen   journalists   and   an   increasingly   bold   private   media,   and   the  

resulting   outrage   at   cases   such   as   those   of   Khaled   Said,   Mohammed   Bouazizi,   and   Egypt's  

farcical  2010  parliamentary  election  made  societal  change  and  reform  inevitable.  

Although   across   the   Arab   region   authoritarian   regimes   have   fallen   or   reluctantly   embraced  

reform,   the  multi-­‐faceted   legacy   of   decades   of   authoritarianism   remains:  Undeveloped  media  

literacy  in  the  Middle  East  is  impeding  the  ability  of  the  citizen,  and  especially  the  young  citizen,  

to  sort  fact,  opinion  and  rumor,  make  informed  choices,  and  hold  their  governments  to  account  

(Saleh,  2009)  (Townson,  2012)1.  The  2011  uprisings  demonstrated  how  digital  media  can  provide  

an   effective   channel   for   dissent   but,   in   this   critical   phase   of   constitutional   and   governmental  

transition  citizens  need   support   to  nurture   transparency  and  accountability   through  evidence-­‐

based   journalism   and   to   democratize   political   communication.   In   response   to   these   needs,  

Meedan   has   sought   to   develop   open   source   tools   for   newsrooms   that   encourage   journalists,  

citizen   journalists   and  media   consumers   to   collaborate   in   asking  questions  of  media,   to   check  

the  credibility  of  citizen  and  mainstream  sources,  and  to  acknowledge  and  propagate  the  best  

and  most  accurate  journalistic  reporting.  

                                                                                                                         1  Interview  with  media  literacy  expert  Magda  Abu-­‐Fadil.  

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FIXING  THE  ECOSYSTEM  -­‐  WHERE  TO  START?  When   considered   in   their   totality,   the   challenges   facing   societies   trying   to   reform  and   rebuild  

systems   built   with   the   specific   aim   of   impeding   transparency   can   seem   manifold   and  

insurmountable.   Meedan's   Checkdesk   project   came   about   as   a   response   to   a   discrete,   but  

important   aspect   of   this   challenge:   helping   bridge   the   ravine   that   had   grown   between   the  

Middle   East's   media   organizations   and   the   communities   they   served   in   a   productive   and  

mutually  beneficial  manner.    

As  we  conducted  interviews  with  journalists  at  Egypt's  leading  newspaper,  the  privately  owned  

daily   Al-­‐Masry   Al-­‐Youm,   one   possible   area   for   collaboration   between   journalists   and  

communities  of  readers  stood  out:  the  challenge  of  "verifying"  the  vast  quantity  of  reports  that  

were  proliferating  online.  Tweets,  Facebook  status  updates,  YouTube  videos,  Bambuser   feeds,  

and  Flickr  streams  from  a  multitude  of  sources  spread  across  a  vast  geography  posed  an  obvious  

challenge  to  the  newsroom,  and  an  enormous  opportunity.  The  challenge  was  not  only  one  of  

how  to  make  sense  of  the  clamorous  noise  of  social  media,  but  an  existential  challenge  of      what  

it   meant   to   be   a   journalist   at   a   time   when   millions   of   "readers"   had   become   writers,  

photographers,  editors  —  a  conundrum  by  no  means  unique  to   the  newsrooms  of   the  Middle  

East.   Important   visionaries   such   as   Ehab   El-­‐Zelaky   proclaimed   the   value   of   embracing   social  

media  as  a  platform  for  civic  voice,  but  many  journalists  and  editors  were  deeply  skeptical  about  

citizen   sources,   in   part   because   they   lacked   experience   of   using   new  publishing   tools   such   as  

Twitter.    

An   additional,   perhaps   more   pressing   challenge   facing   the   newsroom   was   the   print-­‐first  

workflow,   which   meant   Twitter   became   the   de   facto   publishing   outlet   in   breaking   news  

situations.   140   characters   was   enough   to   communicate   the   bare   bones   of   a   breaking   news  

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update,  but  a  more  agile  means  of  publishing  was  needed  to  allow  for  media-­‐rich  coverage  of  

emerging  stories.  

CHALLENGE  AND  OPPORTUNITY  The  Checkdesk  project,  then,  seeks  to  challenge  existing  information  flows  (broadly  state  actors  

>  media   >   public)   and   create   new   structures   for   participation   and   the   development   of  media  

literacy.  Central  to  the  project  are  the  project  partners.  After  a  successful  first  phase  of  ideation,  

development,  research  and  training  with  Al-­‐Masry  Al-­‐Youm  and  Birmingham  City  University,  we  

have  now  partnered  with  5  further    publishers  and  media  collectives   in  4  countries,  stretching  

our  project  through  Egypt,  Jordan,  Palestine,  Lebanon  and  Syria.    

PARTICIPATION  To   support   newsrooms   in   the   challenge   of   publishing   high   quality   media-­‐rich   reporting   on  

breaking  events,  Meedan  resolved  to  develop  an  open  source  publishing  platform  that  engaged  

users  around  the  checking  of  digital  media,  promoting  the  best  efforts   to  a  citizen   journalism-­‐

powered  liveblog.  English-­‐language  media  organizations  such  as  The  Guardian,  BBC,  Huffington  

Post  and  Al-­‐Jazeera  English  have  increasingly  used  the  liveblog  to  great  effect,  benefitting  from  

the  added  engagement  and  traffic  the  format  generates.  (Thurman  &  Walters,  2013)  We  sought  

to  create  a  digital  newsroom  behind  that  publishing  output:  The  workflow  we  developed  allows  

established   communities   of   newsreaders   (Al-­‐Masry   Al-­‐Youm   has   some   1.1   million   Facebook  

likes)  to  engage  in  the  reporting  process  by  submitting  media  related  to  a  breaking  story,  adding  

metadata  to  help  establish  the  credibility  of  a  media  item,  and  having  their  work  published  on  

the  official  liveblog  of  a  recognized  media  brand.  

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The   below   illustration   [Figure   1],   by   former   Guardian   community   guru   Meg   Pickard   and  

published  on  her  blog  in  mid-­‐2011  illustrates  publishing  processes  as  they  exist  and  have  existed  

for   many   years,   and   [Figure   2]   shows   the   publishing   process   we   envisioned   with   Checkdesk:  

regular   publishing   ("Launches")   with   community   participating   at   every   stage   of   the   process.  

(Pickard,  2011)  This  model  provides  a  stark  contrast  to  the  top-­‐down,  reader  as  consumer,  trope  

that  exists  both  in  traditional  media  in  the  Middle  East  and  more  broadly   in  societies  suffering  

the  legacy  of  chronic  authoritarianism.  

 

FIGURE  1:  TRADITIONAL  PUBLISHING  PROCESS  

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 FIGURE  2:  PARTICIPATORY  PUBLISHING  PROCESS  

MEDIA  LITERACY  As   stated   earlier   in   the   report,   another   consequence   of   the   lack   of   a   free   and   independent  

media   is   the  emergence  of  a  citizenry  deeply  suspicious  of  media   institutions  and  of  what  has  

been   described   by   one   academic   as   a   "mal-­‐media   situation   in   [the]   Middle   East   and   North  

Africa"  (Saleh,  2009).  

Most  of  the  people  are  unimpressed  and  unmoved,  and  less  concerned  than  ever  about  their  governments’  policy  directions,  as  they  are  victims  of  a  sort  of  media  fatigue,  due  to  the  persistent  feeling  that  double  standards  for  information  persist,  that  civic  engagement  is  subject  to  too  many  hurdles  and  that  rhetorical  commitment  to  democracy  and  freedom  often  serves  the  personal  priorities  of  the  chosen  few.  The  main  challenge  remains  on  how  to  educate  the  members  of  the  public  and  empower  them  to  ask  for  their  civil  rights  and  hold  their  governments  responsible  for  their  public  obligations.  (Ibid.)  

Checkdesk  seeks  to  address  this  challenge  in  terms  of  bridging  "the  widening  gap  between  the  

general   public   and   the   journalists"   (Ibid.)   as   previously   described.   Parallel   to   this   track,   we  

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partnered  with  Birmingham  City  University  to  develop  a  training  program  to  more  directly  target  

the   roots   of   underdeveloped   media   literacy:   A   lack   of   media   education   leading   to   poor  

standards  for  critically  assessing  the  media.  Training  workshops  using  BCU  resources,  developed  

in  collaboration  with   local   trainers,   focus  on  giving  participants   journalistic  skills  with  which  to  

assess   digital   media,   and   on   demonstrating   the   value   and   importance   of   a   critical   media  

environment.  By  the  end  of  2013  over  1000  citizens  of  the  5  nations  in  which  we  are  operating  

will  have  received  training  in  such  skills.  

CONCLUSION  Across   the   Arab   world,   the   withholding   of   the   right   to   information   has   been   central   to   the  

survival  of  decades  of  authoritarian  rule.  Ministries  of   Information  exercised  tight  control  over  

what   information  was  made  public   through  state  media  and  stifled   independent  media   to   the  

extent   that   self-­‐censorship   became   instilled   in   many   newsrooms   (The   Economist   2011).   This  

censorship,   combined   with   inadequate   media   education   has   led   to   increasing   public  

disenfranchisement  with  media   and   channels   of   information,  which   in   turn   consolidated  poor  

levels   of   media   literacy.   Meedan's   Checkdesk   project,   with   its   focus   on   benefitting   from   the  

opportunities  presented  by  digital  media  and  an  emphasis  on  building  strong  partnerships  with  

and   between   leading  media   producers,   seeks   to   redress   this   imbalance   in  media   access,   and  

empower  the  citizens  of  the  Arab  world  to  pursue  and  demand  their  right  to  transparency  and  

accountability.  

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY  Pickard,  M.  (2011,  May  5).  Creative  collaborations  &  conversations.  Retrieved  January  15,  2013,  from  Publishing  process  and  opportunities  for  community  collaboration:  http://www.megpickard.com/archive/publishing-­‐process-­‐and-­‐opportunities-­‐for-­‐community-­‐collaboration/  

Saleh,  I.  (2009).  Media  Literacy  in  MENA:  Moving  beyond  the  Vicious  Cycle  of  Oxymore.  United  Nations.  The  United  Nations-­‐Alliance  of  Civilizations  in  co-­‐operation  with  Grupo  Comunicar  .  

Thurman,  N.,  &  Walters,  A.  (2013).  LIive  blogging-­‐  Digital  journalism's  pivotal  platform?  Digital  Journalism  ,  1  (1),  82-­‐101.  

Townson,  P.  (2012,  October  25).  Doha  Centre  for  Media  Freedom.  Retrieved  January  15,  2013,  from  Experienced  journalist  and  media  literacy  expert  on  developing  the  Arab  media:  http://www.dc4mf.org/en/content/experienced-­‐journalist-­‐and-­‐media-­‐literacy-­‐expert-­‐developing-­‐arab-­‐media-­‐0