media update’s Nicole van Wyk chats to Naeemah Dudan from HashtagOurStories about mobile storytelling and how it is changing the traditional view of news broadcasting.
1. What does mobile storytelling entail?Every organisation has their own view of what mobile storytelling entails. For HashtagOurStories, our view comprises of
giving marginalised communities and unheard voices a platform to tell their stories. Anyone can be a mobile storyteller — it is up to the journalist to put that story together to present that story to the world.
2. Is this form of storytelling considered to be mainstream or alternative news?
I think that it is still something the world is getting used to, so I would say [it is an]
alternative [form of storytelling]. Citizen journalism is often a subject that people are wary of. It gives citizens a platform to voice
their opinions and, because of this wariness, the world has not fully adapted to the idea of mobile storytelling.
When newsrooms only know one type of journalism within that newsroom, it is difficult to migrate to something else. With that being said, what works for one newsroom might not work for the next.
3. What type of equipment is used to capture these stories?
Any smartphone with a good camera will work. [There is] no heavy camera equipment or cameraman required — a good phone camera can be
just as powerful.
4. How does a traditional newsroom differ from a mobile storytelling community?
It depends on the media organisation. For HashtagOurStories, we have a
global community of about 3 000 mobile storytellers from around 140 countries.
This community can make contributions to stories we are working on or if we need a mobile storyteller on-site at an event or protest, we can call on people from this community to provide us with visuals and voices.
Furthermore, engaging with people daily across all social media platforms assists mobile storytellers to provide their voices on topics that we are covering. These topics range from sexual assault, the body hair positivity movement and menstruation education.
We are a global newsroom, which means that the
actual journalism team sits in various cities across South Africa and America.
5. In today’s society, there is constant pressure to establish a ‘global village’ and a universal voice. How does mobile storytelling ensure that marginalised voices are heard?
We put the camera in the hand of the unheard voice
We let people tell the stories themselves and that establishes a unique connection between the storyteller and the audience. It often creates empathy that may not be there with huge cameras and a presenter re-telling the story. It is also often easier for audiences to relate to something that they know, and using a mobile phone to take videos is a familiar aspect of society nowadays.
6. On the one hand, social media is undeniably become one of the most powerful tools used to convey messages to the broader communities we form a part of. On the other hand, millennials are taken less seriously in comparison to seasoned journalists when addressing weighty topics. How does your line of journalism remain true to its tagline ‘changemakers, innovators and unsung heroes’ against this backdrop?There are so many people out there that are coming up with innovative solutions to problems in the world and the youth are part of that solution.
So often, when we produce stories, the voices around those stories and topics are millennials and they have very powerful things to say about topics like mental health, breast implants and sexual assault.
Millennials are part of the unheard voices that we cover because they are often misrepresented in mainstream media
We should not disregard people’s opinions on topics based on their age — they might not be experts in the field, but their own personal experiences is what is valued and allows stories to go from ‘okay’ to ‘great’.
Personal experiences are often something that shapes our stories. We want to know what problems people are facing in their lives and how they are coming up with solutions to combat those problems.
At the same time, while these voices shape our stories, we still lead the story in terms of following [an] ethical journalism code. We provide our audiences with the basic questions through context and we verify claims that are made by contributors to stories.
Do you follow any mobile storytelling channels? Let us know in the comments section below.