Reportero W, a Peruvian website “fully armed with information sent by citizens,” made its electoral coverage debut covering regional and municipal contests Oct.3.
Readers of Reportero W, a property of the Radio Programas del Perú media group, received information from Peru and abroad about the flow of voters, problems in certain voting centers, a car set ablaze which caused traffic congestion near a voting site, and cases of citizens denied the right to vote. Peruvians could also see their compatriots vote in New Jersey and Spain.
Information on the web page is supplied by registered users who publish under their bylines and their “complete responsibility” under a content policy that requires that information “not be false, copied, obscene, nor spam." Registered voters can also publish photos and video, as well as text.
Peru’s municipal elections are not the first major news event covered by the citizen journalist network, which was created in 2008 and can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The collapse of a hill in Ayacucho in November 2009 and floods last January in Cusco served as the network’s premiere.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
