“What does the soul truly want is a story.” – Joseph Campbell.
A decade ago, people started using social media to disseminate information. As time goes by and technology becomes more sophisticated, people find it easier to find, analyze, and disseminate information until the term citizen journalism emerged. The presence of sites that provide a forum for people to write blogs makes the trend of citizen journalism develop along with increasing diverse issues, one of which is agricultural issues.
Agricultural issues in citizen journalism are very transient, ranging from the latest agricultural conditions, tips and tricks, and ways to grow crops to information about agricultural facts that are rarely known by the general public. In June 2021, TJF provided citizen journalists with the opportunity to share news and stories about peat farming around us. This event was held to celebrate World Peat Day, which commemorates every June 2nd.
Raising the #PeatTale campaign, which was part of the #PeatParty event, more than 20 citizen journalists sent their tales about peatland. Ihsan Fawzi (Tay Juhana Foundation) and David Krisna Alka (Geotimes) selected the three best tales published on the Geotimes, who was supported this event.
The winners included Alifah Fitam Rakhma Sari with the title of ” Menumbuhkan Asa Melalui Restorasi Gambut Indonesia,” Mafhud Roid Fatoni with the title “ Implementasi Keuangan Berkelanjutan dapat Menyelamatkan Hutan Gambut di Indonesia,” and Wildan Aria Nugraha with his work ” Gambut oh Gambut, Bank Karbon.” These three Peat Tales can be accessed through the Geotimes and Tay Juhana Foundation websites.
We thank all of the fantastic citizen journalists for sharing their tales. For those who haven’t had a chance to be a winner, keep spreading the word! There will be other exciting events throughout the year related to food and agriculture issues organized by TJF.
