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BBC launches Indian citizen journalism project

Posted: 16/10/07 By: Laura Oliver

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The BBC has launched an online citizen journalism initiative to target an audience of Urdu speakers in India.

The BBC's Urdu site is searching for citizen editors to provide user-generated content for a micro-site - called Your Edition - and is taking a tour of India's top universities to try to fill the vacant posts.

The search for editors will begin tomorrow at Lucknow University in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh before moving to campuses in Bhopal, Hyderabad and finally Aligarh.

This opening series is part of a wider range of bbcurdu.com activities scheduled for next year.

"In a milieu of extensive social-networking and participatory media, we intend Your Edition to be the next level of interactivity whereby user-participation evolves into user-empowerment," said Waheed Mirza, editor of bbcurdu.com.

Mohammed Hanif, head of BBC Urdu, said the scheme would raise awareness of the BBC's Urdu site amongst Urdu-speakers in India, where internet usage is growing.

"Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Aligarh are centres of knowledge and talent, and we are looking forward to meeting our existing and future audiences there," said Hanif.

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