The term citizen journalism or public journalism has spread widely around world as it has been connected to publishing the news and information. It can be defined simply as an alternative source of news which is produced and published by the general public. The concept of citizen journalism is not a new phenomenon and it has started long time ago. What has changed is the importance and the prevalence of the citizen journalists as an alternative source of information and news worldwide. There is an argument whether citizen journalism has transferred the news positively or negatively. Some experts argue that citizen journalism has many disadvantages such as lack of credibility and low objectivity which make it unreliable source of news comparing to traditional media. However, others support the citizen journalism because it has important advantages like promoting democratization of society and increase the speed of news. Therefore, this essay will argue that citizen journalism has apparently positive aspects in promoting democratization by removing corrupted regimes and being the first in providing media coverage.
To some degree, citizen journalism has several disadvantages which may have negative impacts on the quality news provided. One of these disadvantages is the low level of credibility. Therefore, citizen journalists are usually not invited to attend any media conference or meeting because they do not have formal training and qualifications in the media field (Bruns 2010 p.3). In addition, a study conducted in Singapore by Polytechnic University on 801 people shows that 80% of people who participated in the study think that traditional media is better than citizen journalism because of its issues with the credibility (Elsem...
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...ccording to Sambrook (2005), participatory journalism which covers the news might be used sometimes by traditional media for instance, networked journalism took part in the coverage of the terrorism attack that occurred in London with BBC channel by sharing 1000 photos, 20 videos, 20,000 email and 4,000 text messages within the first 6 hours and their media were used to make the headlines news in the major news channel. Moreover, another example is the earth quick in Haiti which was covered by citizen journalists who used the internet to show the world the horrible situation by publishing a lot of pictures (Barnes 2012). These evidence show that the rapid spreading of the news by citizen journalism can provide instant news coverage. Improving democratization of society and increase the speed of news are great deal of advantages to public journalism.
It is not uncommon to hear people complaining about what they hear on the news. Everyone knows it and the media themselves knows it as well. Some of the most renowned journalists have even covered the the media’s issues in detail. Biased news outlets have flooded everyday news. We find that journalism’s greatest problems lie in the media’s inability for unbiased reporting, the tendency to use the ignorance of their audience to create a story, and their struggles to maintain relevance.
These sources however do not provide them with information on ‘’real people’’. Professional journalists have difficulty finding and involving regular citizens as sources to recruit information. The positive effect of citizen journalism on professional journalism in this case is that the citizen journalists can function as deliverers of ‘’real people’’ namely the people the citizen journalists use as sources themselves. These people would be trusted local
Citizen journalism, We media, Participatory media, or Citizen media, as it is also called, is the act of citizens playing an active role in the collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating of news and information. This is essentially the act of extending the "press" to what was traditionally called the audeience. Citizen journalism is one of key importance especially because it provides independent, wide-ranging, and to some extent relevant information which created a democratic environment as far as information goes.
It aims to represent the voices of ordinary people or people that may seem undervalued in the light of the mainstream media. These people are the citizens in whom the news is directed at but the stories that are made and shown may sometimes not resonate with them, instead it is just information that may have no direct effect on them. However, alternative journalism allows the citizen to take journalist practices into their own hands and have a voice and opinion. The access to social media and the internet has brought about a new wave of alternative journalists that have no professional qualifications but look at the world from a view that a majority of the world can understand. Atton mentions that citizens have a loyalty to other citizens (Atton, 2008) which is important to note because it is the biggest motivation for alternative journalism is not profit, but the drive to inform fellow man. People are going to trust news sources that are written by people who are like them or because they are eyewitness accounts or people that have placed themselves in situations that are dangerous, these types of news stories have a more humane
This shows that the role of journalism is to serve the citizens. Yet, the public are in between mass media and social media. Citizens could also view professional journalism, non-professional journalism and Facebook as a way of seeing the on-going
This article focuses on research that reveals the de-professionalization and democratization of traditional journalism. The article explores the consequences of both the relation between traditional journalism and citizen journalism. The author argues that the emergence of citizen journalism is a consequence of the current factors effecting the changes in traditional journalism. The lines between professional journalism content and amateur journalism content have become blurred. The author explains how these factors have shown to affect the field of journalism in areas of employment, media technologies, shifting patterns of media use, and media consumption.
Nowadays the world is being bombarded by news at every second and most of the population can access them through newspapers, websites, radio or TV. There are indeed different way and different kind of journalism but it can only be either good or bad. Journalism itself is the act of gathering news and do research in order to inform society about matters concerning various topics. It has changed a lot since its diffusion and innovative ways of making news are constantly being explored, also because of the development of technology and the invention of new methods to share information. In this essay, I will explain the influence that the responsibilities of the journalists towards the public have in defining whether an article can be good or bad, and the role of the news agenda together with the importance that language and form have in relation to the quality of journalism.
In trying to attract new audiences, news media have begun to transition from reporting to becoming a form of entertainment. With the meteoric rise of social media’s role as a news source, the fight for an increase of diversity in the media, and the ever-growing desire of immediate content, the future of responsible journalism is more important than ever. Ask yourself, why do I think the way I do? Where do my political views originate? How do I prove them? Most likely, it is due to the biased portrayal of issues in the media and the politicization that accompanies what we consume. Now, compare your views to your preferred news reporting entity. More than likely, they are the same.
As media institutions got more and more private and involved in competition, they tended to use citizen-generated contents. For example, FM stations have welcomed talk-radio genres where people phone in with comments on a range of political and social issues (Banda, 2010). Citizen journalism is said to have opened up the political space in Africa. This concept works better in combination with radio and has positive effects in as far as for example citizens attend to polling stations during elections and report any rigging of polls to local radio stations (Atarah,
Online journalism is a media with a mixture of internet, photographs, and videos. On the online articles, there are additional links for transparency, information that explain the articles and exchange different opinions on the internet (Humprecht and Esser 1). The problem of online journalism is that people cannot figure out if they are reading a real article or a tabloid. Katharine Viner, a Guardian writer, assets that people likely spread alternative facts without noticing. Also, she points out that news industries struggle to increase their profits. Technology advancement causes online stories to spread out and people overlook those fake facts without doubting. In order to solve this problem, online news must tell the truth (Humprecht and Frank 16), news industries need plans to maintain their position as news providers (Viner) and people need the skill to find which articles are true. I have chosen this topic because this is my area of interest. Journalism has changed its shape to assimilate with the digital world. Since I plan to major in journalism at university, I thought this
As a society , people have been accepting new as fact. If is on the news, its true, because the mainstream media have their people who 's job was to check if the source is reliable, but everyone who read the stories should know that the story may or may not be 100 percent accurate, just like the weather forecast. Citizen journalism are just as important as professional journalism, and in some case, its more. Its journalism that let the regular people to capture moments that happened around the world, of course the source came from a professional journalist, that 's what most people think, however, people don 't really know the importance of citizen journalism. The event captured by citizen journalist can be share on all sorts of social media such as Facebook, YouTube, twitter etc. before you know it. the message will be received by millions, this forms of journalism is how we keep up to date with what 's going on in the world quickly. An example of this is Osama bin Laden 's death, one of the biggest news in 2011, were reported by a local one day before Obama announced this news to the world . Twitter is also a key player of the social media, there are loads of news stories went on twitter before they do on mainstream
Journalism, the real form of this expression has developed in control over a period of time. The essential goal of journalism is to serve the population with news, views, comments and information on matters of public interest for a reasonable, precise, fair and decent manner and language. Journalism is the action of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is similarly the result of these exercises. The media today does not stay fulfilled as the Fourth Estate, it has assumed the primary significance in society and governance. Such is the influence of media that it can make or unmake any individual, organization or any idea.
Thirty years ago, if I told you that the primary means of communicating and disseminating information would be a series of interconnected computer networks you would of thought I was watching Star Trek or reading a science fiction novel. In 2010, the future of mass media is upon us today; the Internet. The Internet is and will only grow in the future as the primary means of delivering news, information and entertainment to the vast majority of Americans. Mass media as we know it today will take new shape and form in the next few years with the convergence and migration of three legacy mediums (Television, Radio, Newspaper) into one that is based on the Internet and will replace these mediums forever changing the face of journalism, media and politics. In this paper I will attempt to explain the transition of print media to one of the internet, how the shift to an internet based media environment will impact journalism and mass media, and how this migration will benefit society and forever change the dynamic of news and politics.
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
Broadcast media has also empowered the people to share news and their own views on what is happening in the society. ABS-CBN's “Bayan Mo, I-Patrol Mo” and GMA's “YouScoop” has vastly gained popularity persuading the people to help gather news and be a responsible citizen. This just shows how powerful the mass media, specifically the Web, has played in the nation building of this institution. In this sense, journalists, together with the Filipino people, has stepped into new heights, as they escaped the traditionalist norms like “envelopmental journalism” and “sensationalism” to form a new breed of valiant, objective and fair writers. Whether it may be print or broadcast journalism, these columnists are unparalleled in their duties to spread the news to the society in their social and moral obligation to spread the truth, and to inform the public on what is happening in their country.