CITIZEN JOURNALISM

By CMC Lions

e
see th

You
local ience
n
conve urning
b
store
down

The lo
cal ba
nk
being
robbed

an
e
e
s
or lance
u
u
amb past yo
d
spee

and
the first thing you do is grab your camera to take a
picture or video or pull out your cell phone and
post a comment on Twitter or Facebook.
That makes you a citizen journalist!

WHAT IS CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Non-journalists reporting information either by means of
writing, blogging, video streaming, photography, analyzing or
commentary.
Posting a video of a crime committed in your city onto
YouTube, blogging about your thoughts of a newspaper
article or attending a city meeting and reporting on it on
your blog, even posting pictures of an event that has
happened in your city are examples of citizen journalism
Citizen journalists report, collect and analyze
news and information
It is created by communities instead of organizations who
make no profit compared to the larger organizations who
make millions

FOUR TYPES OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
1.

Sharing of photographs, videos, and audio

Posting on blogs, Facebook and other social media sites

2.

Sharing of opinions,

3.

Sharing of discovery, and

4.

Sharing of expertise

Commenting on things you find online makes you become

a citizen journalist by sharing your opinions with others

Sharing information with the world after discovering

news

Creating a blog or doing a report on a topic you are

knowledgeable on, even though you are not a journalist.

HISTORY BEHIND CITIZEN JOURNALISM

The first newspaper in North America was created in the 1690s followed
by many more shortly after
None of the reporters were professional. They were considered citizens
who were passionate about something and decided to write about it. This
is similar to the citizens of today who take photographs, write blogs and
create videos to post.
In the year 2000, citizen journalism emerged by bloggers and
commentators
Major milestones in citizen journalism which were caught on camera and
published on a video sharing site include:
Kennedy Assassination, 1963
Rodney King Beating, 1991
World Trade center, 2001
Columbia Shuttle Disaster, 2003
London Subway Bombing, 2005
Virginia Tech Shooting, 2007
Hudson Landing, 2009

POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
It allows citizens to feel
more involved in the
community by
expressing their
opinions, engaging with
other social media
users and contributing
their thoughts and
knowledge about a
subject

POSITIVES ASPECTS OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
You get the view from a regular day to day person,
their thoughts and words, not edited material
which is carefully revised to satisfy the company.
Anyone who has access to the internet is able to
get their story out to the world by researching,
creating a story, and reporting it. Photos and
videos taken by everyday citizens are managing to
make their way into the press.
They provide a more interesting version of the
story instead of the scripted versions which
newspapers publish

ON THE SCENE REPORTING

A great example which highlights the advantages
of citizen journalism is the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Just moments after the planes crashed into the
World Trade Center, New York residents were the
first to get the news out to the world by updating
social media websites with photos, videos, and
minute by minute coverage.
News reporters cannot always be on the scene
when an event occurs especially if the event is
unplanned. Citizen journalists alert the media
when breaking news occurs and provide photos
and videos while it is happening.
It helps broaden the events that are reported

CITIZEN JOURNALISM ON THE RISE

Many large news agencies are
encouraging the use of citizen
journalism by allowing
audiences to post their thoughts
at the end of news articles.
Citizens can also comment
online, call in, and some
agencies have even created
sections for citizen journalists
to contribute their stories.
CNN is a great example. They
have a section called iReport
where the public can comment ,
share their stories and discuss
issues with CNN
Posting online puts your
knowledge and information out
to a much larger audience.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
Citizen journalism is
taking over actual
newspapers. Even though
citizen journalism is the
new easy and accessible
social medial tool, not
everyone has a computer or
cell phone.
Some people rely on the
daily newspaper to find out
current events and want to
hear true news events
rather than blog postings.

There can be quite a bit of

controversy with citizen
journalism. A lot of
professional journalists
believe that citizen
journalists do not
understand the work and
accuracy that is involved in
reporting the news.
The main point of journalism
is to keep an impartial and
fair view, a lot of citizen
journalists do not abide by
that and add their opinions
making the story a corrupted
version of the truth.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
Many people believe the information they find online to
be trustworthy, especially if it is titled news. This
leads the reader to believe the information is true even
though it may lack credibility.
With this said, it may lead the readers to lose there
confidence with the accuracy of the news altogether.

Citizen journalists lack the ability to separate evidence

from speculation and opinion, as real journalists are
trained to be cautious of those fabrications. Professional
journalists are constantly referring to a large amount of
credible sources in order to make sure their information
is correct. Citizen journalists rarely check the
authenticity of their sources and the readers have no
way of knowing.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CITIZEN

JOURNALISM
Citizen journalists seem to be
putting themselves in dangerous
situations in order to be the first
on the scene to report the news
such as the London riot.
Social media tools such as Flickr,
Blottr, Instagram, and Citizen
side show graphic photos of the
riots from start to finish. Citizen
journalists are putting
themselves in the middle just to
take a picture or video, risking
their lives and taking the risk of
being put in jail.

WHO CAN BE A CITIZEN

JOURNALIST
ANYONE!
By posting comments,
writing on your blog, posting
videos online, expressing your opinions or even
taking photos and posting them online makes you
a citizen journalist
As long as you have access to a social media tool
and spread the word amongst people, you are
considered a citizen journalist.

WHO CAN BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST

There are a wide variety of citizen journalism sites:
Nowpublic anyone can post an original story on different topics

Citizenwire tons of different topics which report on news stories

and peoples opinions as well as different sections for news in different
states.

Digital Journal A global digital media network that has news and
articles on a wide variety of
topics such as art, entertainment and
traveling

WHO CAN BE A CITIZEN

JOURNALIST
There are non-professional reporting
websites as well as the traditional news
websites which feature a section for
citizen journalists to report
A lot of people who have strong opinions
on a topic become a citizen journalist by
posting comments or blogs or posting on a
video, audio or photo sharing website.
It allows the expression of different views
and opinions of people

WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT?

Hacker attacks are becoming more and more prevalent, targeting

large organizations and even news paper agencies.
Citizen journalism has become significant because it can report
news temporarily while the newspaper agencies are recovering
from a hack attack.
Citizen journalists can quite often be in places where
professional journalists cant get to or may not have access to.
For example, a third world country having a natural disaster
where all access if cut off, the citizen journalist can report
right from the scene
Citizen journalists in war torn countries may have a better
understanding and ability to relay the news than an outside
journalist

Citizenwire. (n.d.). Citizenwire: News Stories and Opinions from Citizen Journalists. Retrieved on March 3,
2016, from http://citizenwire.com/

Digital Journal. (n.d.). Digital Journal: A Global Digital Media Network. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from
http://digitaljournal.com/

CNN. (n.d.). CNN iReport. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from http://ireport.cnn.com/

Forsloff, C. (2009, October 02). Op-ed: What is the Role and Value of Citizen Journalism?. Retrieved on March
3, 2016, from http://digitaljournal.com/article/279968

Haddad, D. (2011). A Short History of Citizen Journalism. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/27144532

Kalter, L. (2011, August 08). Five Websites Where Citizen Journalists are Documenting Riots in London.
Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from
http://ijnet.org/blog/how-london-citizen-journalists-are-using-smart-phones-capture-riots \

Now Public. (n.d.). Now Public. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from http://www.nowpublic.com/

Ross, R. (2011, June 21). A Short History of Citizen Journalism. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from
http://ronaldross.sys-con.com/node/1880031

Sambook, R 2008, 'Four Types of Citizen Journalism,' YouTube Video, retrieved on March 3, 2016, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrJH6TYVfmk

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia: Citizen journalism. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

Willis, C., Bowman, S. (2009, May 27). Citizen Journalism: The Key Trend Shaping Online News Media
Introductory Guide with Videos. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/citizen-journalism-the-key-trend-shaping-online-news-media/

YouTube. (n.d.). Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional News. Retrieved on March 3, 2016, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU5LonkXbCE&feature=player_embedded#at=21

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