Citizen journalists play a critical role in truth and knowledge sharing. It seems that many people now a days are skeptical of the truth in conventional journalism and have turned to citizen journalists for the most up to date and "real" information. Though this information is highly biased, at least readers have the ability to survey a wide variety of opinions on a certain subject and come to a conclusion for themselves. I feel that in traditional media we are spoon fed a certain politically correct version of the truth and expected to accept that as reality. Citizen journalists offer us more freedom in how we view the world. I believe this has motivated a lot of people to turn to citizen journalism for their news.
Citizen journalism has also changed the way we make decisions. Just look at how Engadget and
Gizmodo impacts the technology industry. A positive review on these sites can really help a product boost credibility. Or how about the 2008 presidential election? Many of my peers completely ignored traditional media coverage. They turned to Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, and FiveThirtyEight for information and analysis. I think the appeal is in the equality between writer and reader. Because there is so much interaction the reader has some influence in content.
Citizen journalism has also provided us with the most up to date information on things we may not otherwise have access to. This is news in real time. In the most recent Israeli/Palestine conflict citizen journalists on the ground were able to provide a unique perspective on what was going on. One such blog is Life Must Go On in Gaza and Sderot. This blog is written by an Israeli man and a Palestinian man living on opposite sides of the divide. What they share daily simply cannot be reproduced by traditional media. They provide a certain type of insight that we all crave but cannot get by traditional means. Thus, we turn to these citizen journalists.
I think its amazing how much impact everyday people can have on the world now and its all thanks to the Internet!
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Wow. I've got to say that while I don't share your sentiments, I can definitely say that if you had a blog, I would read it. You have a way with language that many citizen journalists do not.
ReplyDeleteThe point to some of these blogs is that your readership for whatever reason trusts you: you need half a brain, personality, and some info. So many people out there blogging, while they may offer quality posts, or lacking in one of those three sums of their parts. Think about advertising: the Kroger brand cereal might be just as good...but where's that adorable little Leprachaun? He's so wiley--I'll spend the same amount for his lucky charms as I would for twice as much as ValueCharms because...no reason at all.
If I were you, I'd bottle and sell some of your personality and written structural organization and sell it for a fair price to other citizen journalists who don't quite have it right yet.
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
I have to agree with you that sometimes citizen journalism can go beyond the scope of traditional journalism. Like being a journalist, however, there are things required beyond just being savvy about reporting. There are things that you have to possess: you have to be able to talk to other people. Be engaging. Interesting. Use suspense, round out statements, close off ideas to make it seem like either there's more to come or that's all she wrote. I also think that editorializing has its place, and it should have seperate subheadings under a general citizen journalism blog. You also should be able to have a good hold on the facts of the matter: what's important, and what isn't. All the issues of note should be included. Some amount of research should be involved in reporting: simply "I was there" or "this happened" isn't enough.
I also think that video or audio is a nice touch on a blog. That's something, if I were to pursue citizen journalism, is something I'd be interested in adding to my blog.
Thanks for posting!