Hometown Journalism in Wyckoff
by Vincent LaGuardia
After rummaging through a plethora of news sources, blogs, and information websites relating to my hometown of Wyckoff, New Jersey, I discovered some of things we have previously discussed in class. There were multiple occurrences of citizen journalism that debated some issues in the town and nearby areas such as the building of a new supermarket in the township and the updating of a previously abandoned shopping mall. I even found a few blogs on the town recreational sports and some of the town politics occurring at the present time. I observed a large example of participatory journalism where I saw pictures and videos of local students earning awards, local sports teams winning their championships, or even pictures of some of the townspeople’s nightlife from weekend to weekend. There were even a few cases where there were moderated user forums that people of town and surrounding areas can communicate and weigh in on the popular and rising issues of Wyckoff.
Overall, I saw a lot of stuff that I would never have been able to break down into specific categories before we discussed it in class. Most of the articles and content I discovered was due to contributions from the citizens of the town and not professional journalists. This isn’t always a bad thing when you are looking for the inside scoop and news from someone who is immersed in the same environment and local area as yourself.
