Citizen Journalism

Thanks to the large number of emerging technologies, we all have the ability to be a 'citizen journalist.' There is no journalism training needed. With tools like blogs and the internet, we have the ability to create our own source of media.

The internet has played a huge role in making newsworthy events available to the masses, sometimes before the news catches it. Sites like YouTube take citizen journalism to a new level, allowing us to post videos almost as soon as we see them take place. We are no longer relying only on the 6 O'Clock news for updates, instead we are looking to the internet to see raw footage on posted videos.

The question as to when this shift from traditional media outlets to the new ones occurred is not entirely definable. According to Mark Glasser, who wrote 'Your Guide to Citizen Journalism,' the shift sped up around 9/11 when so many people were witnesses to the events and had stories to tell and images to show. Their experiences became a major part of the story, a part that the news could not tell as well as the story holders could.

News channel websites are picking up on this media shift and many reporters now have blogs, like this one from News Channel 5. Along with these reporter's blogs, viewers are also able to blog their thoughts on the sites.

However, not all of this new media we are seeing is 'citizen journalism.' There is a fine line between informing your peers and posting random things on the internet. Simply posting a video on YouTube does not mean you are contributing to informing the masses. Collecting, reporting, and analyzing information is the role of the citizen journalist. Audience participation such as blogs or photos is considered analyzing and collecting information. Participatory news sites such as NowPublic are also ways people can be citizen journalists.

I wonder what really caused the growing popularity of citizen journalism. It might have something to do with our need for constant information, available at our fingertips. Sure, we have 24 hour news channels, but with the click of a mouse we are now able to view millions of videos and pictures. We also have the ability to read the opinions of others on newsworthy events. We have the capacity to be so tuned in with the world and the opinions of those in it and that might really be what citizen journalism is.