In a remote region of central India, a citizen journalist reached for a cell phone recently, and with the push of a few buttons filed a report to a mobile phone news service developed by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary. The story was about school workers going unpaid for more than a year, and included contact information for the education secretary.
Once it was confirmed and approved by professionals, the story was made available publicly. Subscribers to the news service got a prompt on their own cell phones that a new story had been posted.
Indian magazine Hardnews features Knight Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary's fellowship project, CGNet Swara, a mobile news network that lends a voice to tribals in rural India. The piece highlights an event where the network received a tip alleging police murdered two Maoist in cold blood, a report contradictory to the police's report that the rebels were armed with a pistol and bombs.
