Citizen Journalism: An Analysis of News Representation in the Coverage of Bhutannewsservice.com

Abstract

This article analyses the discussion of nationality and ethnicity on a Bhutanese citizen journalism site which is particularly used by members of the Lhotshampa ethnic group. Many of the citizen journalists are based outside Bhutan, either in refugee camps in Nepal or as part of a worldwide diaspora. Writers on the site tackle issues relating to a nation, people, culture, and history, particularly that of Bhutan and the Bhutanese people. By criticizing accepted sources and the mainstream media and re-interpreting Bhutanese history, this group of citizen journalists works to assert the Lhotshampa people as rightful citizens of Bhutan and to re-identify other ethnic groups in power in Bhutan as migrants. Bhutan is argued to be a country where all peoples are migrants, and at the same time, diasporic writers remind their readers of why they left Bhutan and look to a better future in their new countries.