My Experiment

From A.man.I
I first of all want to thank you for reading my first post. My name is Amani Channel, but I go by A.man.I (that's cuz I'm A Man, and I'm writing what's important through my eye), and this is my Urban Report. I'm a TV news reporter who walked away from a stable career in TV news to take a chance on a new experience, an experiment, an opportunity in citizen journalism.

I worked at a Fox owned station in Tampa, Florida, from '98-'06 as a General Assignment News Reporter (check out www.youtube.com/user/achannel). That means I reported on just about everything including the busy hurricane season in '04, the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case (national stories), as well as murders, deadly accidents, senseless crimes, city government, and rarely, a story that would make you smile.

That's all in the past now. I'm currently working for a cable network called Black Family Channel in Atlanta, where I've answered the call to venture onto a new frontier in journalism and broadcasting. It's a mix of both really. If you've heard of citizen journalism, you know what I'm talking about. If it's new to you, take a wild guess. Citizen journalism or public journalism, is when an everyday citizen like yourself reports or gets involved in sharing information. Is it possible? Sure it is. The Internet has played a huge role in the revolution. A blog can be a form of citizen journalism, plus all sorts of websites are popping up that use information, and the writings from everyday citizens to share in our collective pool of knowledge.

It's actually pretty tight, because when you think of a traditional journalist you may imagine a note pad carrying news hound with a pencil behind his/her ear typing away at a computer, looking for the next scoop. Now a working mother can document her struggles to balance a career and parenthood, and maybe help or inspire other mothers with similar issues. A first year college student can share his/her experiences in the dorm with other students who are trying to get adjusted to campus life. Or in my case, a TV news reporter can try to share the news as I see it.

I'm learning about this new media, and there's a lot to get excited about. Now you the reader, or viewer can decide what's important, and inform the world about it. I'm not saying there's not a need for mainsream news. It provides a valuable service at times. It is, however, time for you to stop being spoon fed and look for the truth in life yourself.