Publication: Periodismo Ciudadano para la defensa de los derechos humanos. La importancia de la verificación. El caso de Witness.org
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2021-09-14
Defense date
2021-07-12
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Abstract
Ofrecemos una visión general del cambio de paradigma que supone la integración de la ciudadanía como generadora de contenido en el proceso informativo. Referenciando a los principales autores que han publicado sobre la participación ciudadana, analizaremos este fenómeno para así mostrar una valoración pormenorizada del papel del contenido generado por el usuario en la información, difusión y defensa de los derechos humanos. Analizamos el estado de la cuestión en estos últimos 20 años, en todo lo referente al contenido generado por el usuario y al proceso por el cual, la ciudadanía empoderada, gracias a los medios y las herramientas de las que dispone en la red, adopta un rol transformador que trasciende el ámbito periodístico para generar cambios positivos en favor de la democracia.
El impacto de la revolución tecnológica que hemos vivido en estas dos décadas ha cambiado nuestra forma de vivir, nuestras costumbres y, sobre todo, nuestra forma de comunicarnos. De ahí que un elemento decisivo en este proceso, auspiciado por la tecnología, haya sido el desarrollo y abaratamiento de los costes de producción de la telefonía móvil, como herramienta clave en la consolidación de este fenómeno. El teléfono móvil, y más concretamente el llamado teléfono inteligente o smartphone, ofrece a la ciudadanía la posibilidad de cometer actos de periodismo, casi en tiempo real.
La tecnología móvil ha puesto en manos de las personas la posibilidad de dar testimonio de la realidad que les rodea, de forma que no se limiten a ser testigos de la injusticia, sino que puedan formar parte activa del relato informativo que está permitiendo modificar injusticias sociales que, de otro modo, caerían en el olvido.
La telefonía móvil ha conseguido empoderar a la ciudadanía para poder denunciar este tipo de violaciones de manera pública y que dicho mensaje pueda, a su vez, ser amplificado en los medios. El vídeo como evidencia ha logrado trascender el plano de lo meramente testimonial o informativo para transformar la realidad, utilizando el valor probatorio del vídeo ante los tribunales. Dentro de la defensa de los derechos humanos, por parte de los activistas, hemos podido comprobar, a través del trabajo de la organización internacional Witness, que el formato que destaca en este campo por su eficacia y fiabilidad es el vídeo, muy por encima de la fotografía y el texto. Estudiamos cómo funciona esta organización y nos centramos en su proyecto en español, y en los aspectos específicos que definen su trabajo en relación con su matriz internacional. Una de las principales funciones de organizaciones como Witness es educar a los activistas, no sólo en el uso de estas nuevas tecnologías, sino también contemplando el trasfondo ético de su trabajo y analizando sus consecuencias. Tras casi treinta años de trabajo, esta organización ha puesto de relieve la necesidad de protección, no sólo del que graba, sino también de la persona o personas que están siendo grabadas y de las consecuencias que esto puede generar. Está investigación quiere destacar también, la necesidad de protección con la que es urgente respaldar el trabajo de los periodistas ciudadanos, que en la mayor parte de las ocasiones, arriesgan su vida para sacar a la luz atrocidades cometidas en todo el mundo. Profundizar en el fenómeno del periodismo ciudadano es una forma de profundizar, a su vez, en la importancia trascendental del derecho a la libertad de expresión e información, ofreciendo un relato amateur cargado de valor para la defensa de uno de los pilares en los que se sustenta la democracia. Una vez asegurada la protección de los protagonistas implicados a ambos lados del relato, esta organización se ha centrado en el desarrollo de materiales didácticos y guías útiles para grabar de la manera más eficiente posible, en primer lugar, para visibilizar y mover el contenido en redes sociales y medios de comunicación, pero también, y en ocasiones más importante, para conseguir que ese vídeo sea fácilmente verificable, conservando así su valor probatorio de cara a ser utilizado como evidencia en un proceso judicial. Entre las consecuencias negativas que han devenido de está eclosión de las tecnologías de la información y de la transformación de la audiencia pasiva en agentes activos, es la sobreabundancia informativa y la desinformación, entendidas ambas cuestiones, como uno de los grandes retos a los que nos enfrentamos en la actualidad y frente al que es necesario implementar los procesos vinculados a la verificación de contenido. Tecnologías como el blockchain o los algoritmos que aprenden mediante inteligencia artificial, pueden ayudar de manera eficaz en los procesos de verificación de contenido. Tanto en los procesos seguidos por la ciudadanía en su recorrido informativo en tiempo real, como por los medios y organizaciones que se dedican a la verificación como parte crucial de su trabajo. Herramientas como Provenance, en la que nos detendremos específicamente en esta investigación, aportan mayor credibilidad al contenido que tratan y una mejor relación con este nuevo ecosistema mediático. Integrar esta clase de herramientas en los procesos informativos adoptados por los prosumidores, verificando mediante el registro de esa información con tecnología blockchain que asegure la originalidad del contenido consumido, puede ser un aspecto clave, de cara a combatir las fake news. De esta manera, aseguramos a terceros, bien sean medios de comunicación, jueces, gobiernos u otras organizaciones que, sin lugar a dudas, la información generada por parte de un usuario concreto procede de la fuente acreditada. Blockchain va a permitir una descentralización, transparencia y trazabilidad de la cadena de valor del contenido para, de manera sencilla, certificar cuál es el registro original e inmutable que se ha incluido en esa cadena. Periodismo ciudadano para la defensa de los derechos humanos, con la alfabetización, la verificación y la colaboración entre el periodismo profesional y el amateur como piedras angulares de este nuevo ecosistema informativo.
We offer an overview of the paradigm shift that involves the integration of citizens as content generators in the information process. Referencing the main authors who have published on citizen participation, we will analyze this phenomenon in order to show a detailed assessment of the role of user-generated content in information, dissemination and defense of Human Rights. We analyze the state of the art, in these last 20 years, in everything related to this phenomenon in which users are generators of journalistic content and distribute it through the media and the tools available on the Internet. An important element in this process has been mobile technology that has accompanied and strengthened this phenomenon. Millions of people around the world have the appropriate technology to be able to generate content in text, images, or video in a simple way and almost in real time. The smartphone offers any citizen the possibility of committing acts of journalism. The impact of the technological revolution that we have experienced in these two decades has transformed our way of life, our customs and above all, our way of communicating. Mobile technologies, have made each citizen a journalist, activist, or reporter by being in the right place, at the right time, and with the right technology, they can tell news which otherwise would be forgotten. These tools in the hands of millions of people around the world are bringing forward the atrocities that are committed against the fundamental rights of individuals. They empower citizens to be able to denounce these types of violations in a public way and that this message can in turn be amplified in the media and serve their fellow citizens to protest and demonstrate against that specific situation or can even be used as evidence in an international court or tribunal. Within the defense of human rights by activists, we have been able to verify, through the work of the international organization Witness.org, that the format that stands out in this field because its effectiveness and reliability is video, far above photography and text. We study how this organization works and we focus on its part in Spanish, and the differences it offers with respect to its international matrix. One of the main functions of organizations like Witness is to educate activists in the use of these new technologies. In the first place, educating on the need to protect those who record and all those who are dedicated to generating informative content in favor of human rights, but also those who are recorded, since their physical integrity can be endangered. Once the protection of the protagonists involved on both sides of the story has been ensured, this organization in turn focuses on offering all kinds of teaching materials and useful guides to record in the most efficient way possible, first to make the content visible and move. in social networks and the media but also, and on more important occasions, to ensure that this video retains its probative value and can be used as evidence in a judicial process. The better the training of these activists, the greater impact the recordings made in the defense of human rights will generate. If we look at the work that Witness.org does as an organization, we can see that most of its resources, if not all, are dedicated to education, literacy and protection of individuals in the recording processes to report the violation of human rights. Mobile technologies have helped citizens to capture information, Internet connections and social networks helped citizens to distribute that content. Nevertheless, in this age of over information and misinformation we need technology again to preserve the integrity and strength of the message by verifying user-generated content. Technologies such as blockchain or algorithms that learn through artificial intelligence can help in the process of verifying user-generated content. On the one hand, in the informational journey that people make in their journey through information in real time and on the other hand for the media and organizations that are dedicated to verification as an important part of their work. Currently, tools like the one we show in this research, Provenance research, provide greater credibility and a greater relationship to this new media ecosystem. In future work or research, it would be interesting to integrate this aspect into the information flow of the pro consumers, verifying by registering that content with blockchain technology to ensure the originality of the photographs or videos and possible future manipulations. In this way, we assure third parties, whether they are the media, judges, governments or other organizations that the content that has been generated by a specific user comes from an accredited source. Blockchain will allow decentralization, transparency and traceability of the content value chain to, in a simple way, certify which is the original and immutable record that has been included in that chain. Citizen journalism for the defense of human rights, with literacy, verification and collaboration between professional and amateur journalism as cornerstones of this new informational ecosystem.
We offer an overview of the paradigm shift that involves the integration of citizens as content generators in the information process. Referencing the main authors who have published on citizen participation, we will analyze this phenomenon in order to show a detailed assessment of the role of user-generated content in information, dissemination and defense of Human Rights. We analyze the state of the art, in these last 20 years, in everything related to this phenomenon in which users are generators of journalistic content and distribute it through the media and the tools available on the Internet. An important element in this process has been mobile technology that has accompanied and strengthened this phenomenon. Millions of people around the world have the appropriate technology to be able to generate content in text, images, or video in a simple way and almost in real time. The smartphone offers any citizen the possibility of committing acts of journalism. The impact of the technological revolution that we have experienced in these two decades has transformed our way of life, our customs and above all, our way of communicating. Mobile technologies, have made each citizen a journalist, activist, or reporter by being in the right place, at the right time, and with the right technology, they can tell news which otherwise would be forgotten. These tools in the hands of millions of people around the world are bringing forward the atrocities that are committed against the fundamental rights of individuals. They empower citizens to be able to denounce these types of violations in a public way and that this message can in turn be amplified in the media and serve their fellow citizens to protest and demonstrate against that specific situation or can even be used as evidence in an international court or tribunal. Within the defense of human rights by activists, we have been able to verify, through the work of the international organization Witness.org, that the format that stands out in this field because its effectiveness and reliability is video, far above photography and text. We study how this organization works and we focus on its part in Spanish, and the differences it offers with respect to its international matrix. One of the main functions of organizations like Witness is to educate activists in the use of these new technologies. In the first place, educating on the need to protect those who record and all those who are dedicated to generating informative content in favor of human rights, but also those who are recorded, since their physical integrity can be endangered. Once the protection of the protagonists involved on both sides of the story has been ensured, this organization in turn focuses on offering all kinds of teaching materials and useful guides to record in the most efficient way possible, first to make the content visible and move. in social networks and the media but also, and on more important occasions, to ensure that this video retains its probative value and can be used as evidence in a judicial process. The better the training of these activists, the greater impact the recordings made in the defense of human rights will generate. If we look at the work that Witness.org does as an organization, we can see that most of its resources, if not all, are dedicated to education, literacy and protection of individuals in the recording processes to report the violation of human rights. Mobile technologies have helped citizens to capture information, Internet connections and social networks helped citizens to distribute that content. Nevertheless, in this age of over information and misinformation we need technology again to preserve the integrity and strength of the message by verifying user-generated content. Technologies such as blockchain or algorithms that learn through artificial intelligence can help in the process of verifying user-generated content. On the one hand, in the informational journey that people make in their journey through information in real time and on the other hand for the media and organizations that are dedicated to verification as an important part of their work. Currently, tools like the one we show in this research, Provenance research, provide greater credibility and a greater relationship to this new media ecosystem. In future work or research, it would be interesting to integrate this aspect into the information flow of the pro consumers, verifying by registering that content with blockchain technology to ensure the originality of the photographs or videos and possible future manipulations. In this way, we assure third parties, whether they are the media, judges, governments or other organizations that the content that has been generated by a specific user comes from an accredited source. Blockchain will allow decentralization, transparency and traceability of the content value chain to, in a simple way, certify which is the original and immutable record that has been included in that chain. Citizen journalism for the defense of human rights, with literacy, verification and collaboration between professional and amateur journalism as cornerstones of this new informational ecosystem.
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Keywords
periodismo ciudadano, contenido generado por el usuario, periodismo participativo, derechos humanos, verificación, desinformación, Witness, citizen journalism, user-generated content, participatory journalism, human rights, verification, misinformation