Grassroots Journalism in Horsham, Pennsylvania

By: Ericka Kirk

My hometown of Horsham, Pennsylvania is covered by many major local newspapers like The Intelligencer and The Courier Times and also by the well-known Philadelphia Inquirer. However, I was also surprised to find that there were other less know sources that covered the local Horsham news. What was interesting was that this website, www.horsham.org, had stories covered not by journalists or other kinds of writers, but by a variety of citizens. This is the first example of Grassroots journalism that I had come accross since learninng about it. The website is a basic source for information about the township, but also provides a news link for up-to-date stories covering a large amount of different topics. For instance, people from the Parks and Recreation board provided a story about a special upcoming movie ticket sale, Public Works had an article about the much travelled Limekiln Pike that will be closed in the near future, and the Township Governent even had a story published about how Horsham has once again been voted as one of the best places to live by U.S. News and World Report Magazine. Seeing this website was not only surprising, but also very informative and showed me that citizens
can provide information that is just as credible and legitimate as a major newspaper. The many different sources where journalism can be found range from local to national, and yet each is important in its own way.

Exploring a little further outside of my hometown to Philadelphia, which is about a forty minute drive, there are a lot more examples of civic journalism. On the Digital Edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer which can be found online, there are opportunities for people to share their thoughts on the news by sharing stories via email, and using blogs and social networking to voice their opinions about the news. Given that social networks are one of the most commonly used forms of communication right now, this really allows for everyday citizens to express their feelings about the news and also participate in its importance. Another helpful website was www.philly.com which also gives news from the Philadelphia Inquirer. On the site, there is a box and the bottom titled "Featured Columns and Blogs of Philly.com." Here, there are blogs and chats about a wide variety of things covering topics such as economics, politics, sports, weather, national and international news. There's also a blog titled "Live Chats" where, again, everyday citizens can talk, debate, and state their views on different news topics.