What is Citizen Journalism?
New Media Technology has Led to New Media Opportunities in Reporting
May 16, 2008
Citizen journalism is most often considered to be people without journalism training reporting the news to a wide audience. There are different definitions of the term as well. Some citizen journalism occurs when people happen upon breaking news and reporting their story. Other accounts come from people who want a different angle of a story covered and take it upon themselves to do so.
Professional Citizen Journalism
The term is not limited, however, to people without journalism training. There are news blogs kept by professional, trained journalists who want to comment on news stories to cover public reactions to them. Because this occurs outside a formal news outlet, this is also considered citizen journalism.
Modern Technology and Journalism
There was a push for more citizen journalism before the Internet, though the Web has made it easier for people from all walks of life to report news. Before the Internet this often took the form of independent newspapers or newsletters. But with new technology making it easy for anyone to create a blog or website, citizen journalism has become an important part of news reporting.
Citizen News Blogs
Blogs kept by travelers have alerted the formal media to humanitarian injustices and breaking news around the globe. There are blogs that touch on subjects that mainstream media outlets are afraid to talk about. This is especially true in countries where the media is strictly regulated by the government. In many cases, the only eyewitness reporters on the scene have been citizens who see news happen and are driven to act. This can result in a new dimension given to a news story that would not have been possible otherwise.
A citizen news blog can be written to keep track of news going on in a specific area. It may also be an open, public blog that is written by many people to cover different aspects of an area's news.
Citizen Journalism Controversies
Those with professional careers in journalism generally have a journalism education that instructed them on avoiding plagiarism, how to succinctly report a story, how to report objectively and journalism ethics.
Many citizen journalists have not received such training. For this reason, many professionals in the field don’t respect citizen journalism as a legitimate field. Others appreciate the new information that citizen journalists can provide. Many media outlets, such as CNN, take a moderate view, accepting reports from the public but limiting the amount of commentary such non-trained citizens are allowed.
