Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism refers to the collection, dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially via the internet. Unlike traditional journalism, citizen journalism is characterized by its grassroots nature and the participation of non-traditional reporters and often, methods.

History

The roots of citizen journalism can be traced back to the pamphleteers of the 18th century and community reporters of the 19th century. However, the modern form of citizen journalism began to take shape in the 1980s with the advent of video cameras and community access television.

The rise of the internet in the 1990s and early 2000s significantly boosted citizen journalism by providing a platform for individuals to publish and share news widely. The emergence of social media platforms, blogs, and mobile technology has further democratized news reporting, allowing almost anyone with a digital device to contribute to the news ecosystem.

Characteristics

Citizen journalism is characterized by:

Citizen Journalists: News is reported by people who do not necessarily have formal training in journalism, nor full-time careers in the traditional, mainstream media.
Digital platforms: Uses blogs, social media, and other internet platforms for dissemination.
Immediate reporting: Enables rapid reporting and distribution of news, often in real-time.
Diverse perspectives: Provides a wide range of viewpoints, including those from marginalized or underrepresented groups.
Depth: The use of new and novel platforms and mediums often allows citizen journalism to provide much greater detail and depth than traditional reporting. Whereas a standard news article might be 400-800 words, a citizen journalist can provide 8,000 words on the story.

Examples

Blogs: Personal websites or web pages where individuals can publish news and opinions.
Social Media Posts: News shared through platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Video Reporting: Use of video platforms like YouTube and TikTok to report news events.
Hyperlocal News Sites: Websites that focus on news and events in specific localities.

Impact

Citizen journalism has transformed the landscape of news media by:

Increasing participation: Empowering individuals to participate in the news-making process.
Expanding coverage: Covering events and issues that may be overlooked by mainstream media.
Enhancing transparency: Providing alternative viewpoints and holding traditional media accountable.
Promoting engagement: Facilitating direct interaction between news contributors and audiences.

Criticisms and Challenges

Despite its benefits, citizen journalism faces several challenges:

Mistakes: Risk of spreading unverified or false information due to lack of access to official sources.
Lack of objectivity: Potential for bias as citizen journalists may have mixed motives and rely on sources who have significant bias that is difficult to separate from their information.
Credibility Challenges: Difficulty in establishing the credibility of sources, with sources, and for the stories written as presented to the public.
Legal and ethical concerns: Issues related to privacy, defamation, and intellectual property.
Funding: Most citizen journalists lack the resources to provide in-depth coverage to certain stories, or if they do receive funding, they may be receiving it from interested parties seeking to advance the story for other self-interested reasons.

Notable Events

2020 COVID-19 Pandemic: Citizen journalists contributed to questioning the false official narrative on the pandemic, challenging the rate of transmission, the lethality of the virus, the legality of the lockdowns, the effectiveness of the lockdowns, the false science behind 'social distancing', the false science behind school shutdowns, the ineffectiveness of the COVID vaccines, the false science agitating against the Ivermectin wonder-drug, among others.
2020 Election Voter Fraud: Citizen journalists began documenting and collecting evidence of the wide and systemic voter fraud in the 2020 election. Despite years of pressure, litigation, and harassment, alongside judicial avoidance of the issue for political reasons, citizen journalists developed the ongoing public narrative about fraud in the 2020 election.
January 6th Riot: Citizen journalists quickly debunked the idea that the 2020 riot at the United States Capitol was how it was originally presented: a violent insurrection seeking to overthrow the United States government. Citizen journalists showed that Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed without any warning or notice even though she showed no threat, that Officer Brian Sicknick did not die from injuries sustained by the riot but from an unrelated blood clot, and that Rosanne Boyland was not a violent protester and passed out from drugs but was possibly beaten to death while unconscious on the ground by overzealous Capitol Police officers.

References

Allan, S. (2013). Citizen Witnessing: Revisioning Journalism in Times of Crisis. Polity Press.
Gillmor, D. (2004). We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. O'Reilly Media.
Wall, M. (2015). Citizen Journalism: Valuable, Useless, or Dangerous?. Digital Journalism, 3(6), 759-765.

External Links