citizen journalism
TRANSCRIPT
Citizen Journalism through
the Internet
When thinking about citizen journalism,
what first comes to mind?
What Is Citizen Journalism?
-Members of public playing an active
role in news and information
-Citizen media, not professional
journalism
-Independent websites
-Personal broadcasting sites
-Participatory news sites
Timeline of Citizen Journalism Popularity
and Demand2001 September 11th
2003 Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster
2004 Indonesian Tsunami
2005 American Idol Voters
2007 Virginia Tech Shootings
2009 Iranian Elections
Why then?
Rise of do-it-yourself journalism
Want for eye-witness accounts
Demonstrations and protests
Humanitarian efforts
Mobile phone response
Layers of Online Citizen
Journalism1)Opening up to public comment
2)Citizen bloghouse
3)Newsroom blogs
4)Stand-alone citizen journalism
sites,unedited
5)Integration of pro-journalism and citizen
journalism
Now let's take a look at each
separate layer to better
understand how Citizen
Journalism works...
1) Public Comment
What? News sites enabling users to comment
on articles,videos,etc.
Why it’s important: Gives readers the
opportunity to react, praise, and criticize major
news outlets coverage of events. Readers often
bring up points of the issue that were not
originally raised in the publication. In many
instances, these comments are incorporated in
the actual post
Blogging sites support public commenting most
frequently. However, over the last decade more news
sites have been opening their articles up to public
comment to incorporate citizen journalism
Public comment has not always been a concept without
flaw. In many cases, the content have the posts has
been debated. For example, should the public be able
to comment on posts such as obituaries? Where to we
draw the line? Many sites moderate and limit
commenting.
Example: http://www.poynter.org/
2) Citizen Blog House
What? A way for citizens to get involved with the
news through online posting
Why it's important: Blogging is a powerful and
inexpensive way for the everyday citizen to get
involved. Through this publishing tool, any individual
is able to reach out to a broad audience. In a lot of
cases, non journalists, or those who are not
professional journalists, offer the most interesting
and raw perspectives on issues.
Blogs are an interesting facet of citizen journalism because in many
cases they are very specialized. People can find exactly what
they're looking for in terms of news. For example, many popular
cultural blogs include fashion and cooking. So instead of
subscribing to a magazine, the audience can turn to the everyday
bloggers for advice.
A problem with citizen blogging is the consistency of its appeal. In
many cases, blogs start out as interesting However, because there
is no limit to the content posted the material sometimes drags on
or adversely dies out as the blog shuts down completely. In this
way, we see that citizen blogging is not always as reliable and
stable as that of major news sites.
Example: http://www.greensboro101.com/
3-4.) News Room and Unedited Sites
What? A specific type of citizen blogging.
Why it's important: Transparency news
blogs share the inner workings of the
newsroom to the public.
Example:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/c
onversation
Readers are able to specifically pinpoint what they think is wrong
with news organizations. Newsroom blogs and sites that are
unedited give the public a stronger sense of trust in news
organizations. Not all websites have “transparency” blogs. In many
cases, an editor’s blog is offered where the top editor explains the
inner workings and how editorial decisions are made.
Unedited stand alone citizen journalism sites are helpful but
problematic. Any content is allowed to be published and its difficult
to have safeguards against inappropriate content.
How do we fix this?A practical model is for sites to include“ report
misconduct” buttons on stories in photographs. We see this same
technique used on social media sites such as Facebook. No one is
closely monitoring each individual page because that is not realistic.
However, if someone sees the content and believes its not suitable
for the site, it may be reported easily, and then investigated.
5) Integration
What: The combination of citizen journalism and
professional journalism.
Why it’s important: It goes without saying that not all
citizen journalism is accurate or newsworthy.
However, some sites, such as the South Korean site
“OhmyNews” have began to review submitted
articles. This site specifically features 70 percent of
citizen submitted articles, with the rest from pro-
reporters.
IIntegrating citizen journalism and professional journalism is profitable for many news sites. Think about it . The content is submitted without charge, but the content is screened. This kind of media organization and may serve as a model that rivals traditional journalism.
Examples of integration: food section featuring articles not
only written by professional staff critic but also by the
everyday customer, a city council meeting not only being
covered by a correspondent but by someone who attended
a meeting
Example:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/conversation/
Can you name the
five layers of
citizen journalism
we discussed?
REVIEW!
1) Public comment
2) Citizen bloghouse
3) Newsroom blogs
4) Stand-alone sites, unedited
5) Integration