research-article

Revisiting CGNet Swara and its impact in rural India

Authors:

William ThiesAuthors Info & Claims

ICTD '15: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development

Article No.: 21, Pages 1 - 10

https://doi.org/10.1145/2737856.2738026

Published: 15 May 2015 Publication History

Abstract

CGNet Swara is a voice-based platform for citizen journalism, launched in rural India in 2010. Since then, CGNet Swara has logged over 575,000 phone calls, over 6,900 published stories, and 287 reports of specific problems that were solved via the system. In this paper, we characterize the ongoing impact of CGNet Swara using a mixed-methods approach that includes 70 interviews with contributors, listeners, moderators, journalists, officials, and other actors. Our analysis also draws on the content of published posts, two focus groups, and a 9-day field immersion. Our results highlight personal narratives of the transformative benefits CGNet Swara has brought to rural communities. While the resolution of grievances is the most visible impact, we also uncover a diverse portfolio of other impacts connected to contributing and listening to the platform, as well as opportunities to further enhance impact. Our work contributes to the dialogue surrounding the impact of ICTD projects, especially those that span multiple years.

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Seelam APaul Choudhury ALiu CGoay MBali KVashistha A(2024)"Fact-checks are for the Top 0.1%": Examining Reach, Awareness, and Relevance of Fact-Checking in Rural IndiaProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373338:CSCW1(1-34)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637333
Islam MRichardson DSaha MVarghese DBartindale TSaha PSaputra MOlivier P(2024)Recordkeeping in Voice-based Remote Community EngagementProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642779(1-16)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642779
Pain P(2024)“I know my work has effect.”– the rise of the woman citizen journalist in IndiaCommunication Research and Practice10.1080/22041451.2024.232280910:1(92-107)Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2024.2322809
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Index Terms

Revisiting CGNet Swara and its impact in rural India
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Computing / technology policy

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cover image ACM Other conferences

ICTD '15: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development

May 2015

429 pages

ISBN:9781450331630

DOI:10.1145/2737856

General Chair:
Arul Chib
Nanyang Technological University
,
Program Chairs:
Matthew Kam
Google
,
Jenna Burrell
University of California, Berkeley

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Internet Society: Internet Society
BRAC: BRAC
Microsoft Research: Microsoft Research
ICANN: Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers
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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 15 May 2015

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ICTD '15: The Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development

May 15 - 18, 2015

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637333
Islam MRichardson DSaha MVarghese DBartindale TSaha PSaputra MOlivier P(2024)Recordkeeping in Voice-based Remote Community EngagementProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642779(1-16)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642779
Pain P(2024)“I know my work has effect.”– the rise of the woman citizen journalist in IndiaCommunication Research and Practice10.1080/22041451.2024.232280910:1(92-107)Online publication date: 30-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2024.2322809
Acharya N(2024)Towards transformative climate justice: reorienting communication paradigms in IndiaThe Round Table10.1080/00358533.2024.2382558113:4(331-343)Online publication date: 30-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2024.2382558
Choudhary S(2024)Mobile Media Democratising Journalism in India: A Case Study of ChhattisgarhHandbook of Digital Journalism10.1007/978-981-99-6675-2_38(445-454)Online publication date: 3-May-2024
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