Zhou Shuguang, a technician with basic internet skills, has become a public figure in mainland traditional media and among netizens for covering social unrest in the past few years. He tells how he became a well-known 'citizen journalist' by using just simple digital technology.
When and how did you learn your internet skills?
My elder brother was a sailor and was often overseas. In 1999, he asked me to register an e-mail account at Sina.com, saying that sending e-mails would be much faster than writing letters. That was the first time I used the internet. At that time I was in university, majoring in information management in Hunan , which is my home province. I quit school in 2000 and worked as a Web editor with some information technology companies in Guangzhou and Shenzhen till 2006. In fact, school taught me nothing about computer science, such as programming, just some basic technology. I learned on my own how to create websites for enterprises and some other basic internet applied technology.
When did you become a 'citizen journalist'?
The first time I covered a public event was in 2007. I went to Chongqing to interview the owners of the famed 'nail house', who refused to move and bargained with the government and developers for higher compensation when their house was requisitioned for a construction project. I put online everything I saw and heard with articles, photos, and videos.
But I do not want to be labelled a 'citizen journalist', though we have similar behaviour: covering breaking news or hot events as an individual but not hired by any traditional media; uploading all the stuff from interviews online first but not selling to the print industry. I would rather call myself an 'active netizen who is interested in public events' instead.