About CJN
SOCIETY WHERE EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO BE HEARD
Citizen Journalists Network – CJN is a community of regular citizens investigating practical solutions to solve socio-economic problems for real people.
CJN is not a traditional news channel but a community to gather and use firsthand information from members of society for social and community development.
We are Nigeria’s voice to the world.
CJN is the middle ground for people at the grassroots who truly understand the challenges of their local communities and development experts who can build on first hand data to engage a dialogue and together chart an informed roadmap for a sustainable social welfare program and community development.
We talk to the people at the grassroots – more than talk – we listen – we let them tell their own stories, in their own lenses and with their own voices – and advocate for their kinds of solutions. We believe this is an inside-out approach to truly understand the needs of a people and provide a befitting intervention. This approach is created to link a community of people to share information, escalate stories and promote impartiality of news reports in real-time.
CJN is NOT a league of Professional Journalists.
We are Citizen Journalists because we take on the task of investigating social welfare challenges of communities and source for innovative ways to volunteer indigenous and sustainable solutions through social interventions, news escalation, outreach campaigns and other forms of humanitarian activities.
CJN is Nigeria’s foremost community of on-ground citizens sharing real-life events on-the-spot. We provide a citizen based platform using participatory journalism to witness, cover, report and amplify first-hand information from members of society using their own lenses, voices and stories.
Mission: To involve regular citizens in providing independent, reliable and wide ranging information that can reveal and solve indigenous problems.
Vision: To pioneer a sustainable platform where citizens can contribute their own truths in providing localized solutions to solve local problems in their communities.
Goal: To allow citizens tell their own stories, advocate for their kind of solutions and attract the right social interventions for a sustainable community development.
Why We Exist
MEDIA VANGUARD FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
CJN is the right of every citizen to hear and be heard regardless of location, social class or literacy through a variety of strategies that promote their involvement in discussions that affect their lives and community development.
We are focused on the use of information for improvement of lives of people at the grassroots who otherwise may not have a means of being heard, escalating their stories and attracting the right kind of attention to bring localized solutions.
The fact that most often than not, the reportage of happenings at both urban and rural levels is largely subjected to the arrival of the mainstream media has made it extremely disturbing to the ethics of journalism which is built on the ethos of real time coverage and accessibility of information to and for all.
We believe that people at all levels of society ought to be contributors of their own truths to the information chain for an equitable and efficient media. Some may operate in active capacities. Others in passive capacities. This amongst others is the reason why Citizen Journalists Network exists.
CJN is a people-oriented use of the media in providing localized solutions for local communities by gathering local data through information sharing by members of society.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
- Mentorship
- Leadership Training
- Capacity Building
- Policy Advocacy
- Community Mobilization
- Citizenship Education
- Civic Responsibility
- Grassroots Empowerment
- Socio-Economic Development
OBJECTIVES
- Access to real-time and on the spot reportage.
- Prioritization of news objectivity over profitability.
- To reposition the media for problem solving beyond news sharing.
- Decentralization of the information chain to all members of society.
- Combat against fake, partial and distorted news.
- Provision of localized news sources and access to firsthand witnesses.
- To foster the objective of a free and equitable press.
- To address the needs of availability of reliable data.
- Insight on the needs of rural communities through grassroots media penetration
- To create an understanding of the role of members of society in their own development.
