Society today has seen an increase in citizen journalism. New media technology has made it easier for ordinary people to become ‘citizen journalists’ and for others to access citizen journalism. Citizens are the ones who tend to report breaking news more quickly than traditional media reporter. With social networking sites, and the increasing prevalence of mobile phones, citizens can report on stories as soon as they happen especially if they are present at the scene.
Many see the rise in citizen journalism as a good thing. It is believed that ordinary individuals can add a wider berth to stories as they can provide information that may not have been made available to the public otherwise. They can do this by creating a blog, or commenting on a post. It’s a way of ensuring that the “truth” gets out. Peope tend to not trust mainstream media too much, and there is an increasing tendency amongst individuals to go onto news blogs rather than read mainstream newspapers.
“Most people are still happy to rely on mainstream news organisations to sort fact from fiction and serve up a filtered view, but they are increasingly engaged by this information, particularly when recommended by friends or another trusted source” – Nic Newman, 2009
Citizen journalists also give out information that is clearer, and straight to the point. They give a basic view on something rather than try to hide the truth in amongst fancy vocabulary. It is because of citizen journalism that I think we are becoming more of an information society.
But is the rise in citizen journalism necessarily a good thing?
Some argue that it is not. In some instances I agree. Citizen journalists are not trained; it is not their job to report on current events. Whereas a trained journalist has to follow rules and regulation an ordinary citizen does not. They do not need to find credible sources to back up any allegation they might make in a blog or an article. If they wanted to they could make up an event or a situation in their head and write about. It is often found that such stories are often related to race. I remember reading numerous articles claiming that Barak Obama is not only a secret Muslim but that he also was not born in the United States. Even though these articles are clearly false, it has not stopped citizen “journalists” repeatedly reporting that these allegations are true!
“Legitimacy may be unknown with a blog or user-created site and, indeed, there have been cases where individuals have gamed the system, deliberately posting material they know not to be true” – John Kelly, 2009
Personally I know there have been numerous rumours spread across social networking sites about the deaths of famous celebrities which have all turned out to be vicious rumours spread by people.
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