2017 Stepping Into the Next Decade

Stepping Into the Next Decade – PeoPo's Long and Weighty Mission

On April 30, PeoPo Citizen Journalism Platform celebrated its 10th anniversary. On the eve of our birthday, we convened a seminar to listen to the opinions of people from all walks of life, spurring ourselves on in preparation for the coming decade.

A decade ago, online media was rapidly expanding, and people were beginning to use blogs to share their lives. At that point, recording videos had yet to become a trend, but with the increase in bandwidth and the development of mobile devices, images rapidly became the preferred tool for presenting content. In that year, PeoPo responded to the rise of the Internet, evolving from pictures and text to today’s use of images to tell stories, thereby providing an alternative to Taiwan’s mainstream news in the shape of citizen journalism. When the public became tired of the three primary sources of news reports - web browsers, driving recorders, and security monitors - citizen journalism stepped up to the plate to offer rich content from a local perspective that integrated communities and civil society organizations. PeoPo has demonstrated the creative power of grassroots initiatives as an essential driving force in moving towards a democratic society.

During the past ten years, the Dapu incident, a land expropriation case, and the infamous Typhoon Morakot disaster, have demonstrated the scope of citizen journalism and the passion of citizen journalists to protect their land. Through reporting on grassroots stories that matter in our lives, citizen journalists are bravely voicing out for the weak and vulnerable in society and shining a light on all those who have made sacrifices.

Thanks to the diligent effort of PeoPo and hard work of citizen journalists over the last ten years, citizen journalism has gained public recognition and finally blossomed in this land. But even though we have achieved some exceptional results, there is no room for complacency, because there are still many challenges to face in the future. In the ever-shifting landscape of the Internet age, citizen journalism has entered the world of digital storytelling through images, which means there is more scope for growth. Extending the reach of citizen journalism and facilitating more in-depth discussion on civic issues is the personal goal of every citizen journalist. Citizen journalism has opened a window of dialogue between individual citizens and society at large and will no doubt play an indispensable role as a bridge towards a mature civil society in the next decade, boldly advancing from strength to strength through our collective effort.