What is citizen journalism?
(via RobinGood )
Media consumers are increasingly participating in the news gathering process of media outlets, at the expense of traditional media.
Firstly, web-logs arose, (A.K.A ‘blogs.’) Blogs allow anyone with the desire to write and the technological ability and resources, to publish their thoughts.
Next, the mainstream and traditional news providers decided to join in, so they provided platforms for citizen journalists.
Four mainstream web news providers now offer forms of citizen journalism;
CNN’s i-Report Toolkit // Yahoo’s YouWitness News // CBS’s EyeMobile // Fox network’s UReport
CNN has the best process as there are guidelines and tips for the news gatherers, in an effort to verify the authenticity and increase the quality of content submitted by amateur news gatherers.
(via The Vincenton Post)
Now, blogs often beat traditional media to breaking news stories.
Traditional media’s attempt to catch up leads to quality and truth often being compromised in an effort to ‘break’ the news. They must be aware that news is often already in the cybersphere and many members of their former audiences and readers access it online, instead of consuming traditional media.
Traditional media are responding by shifting the focus of news from the newness of content onto promoting conversation and using their resources for in depth analysis of current trends and issues, and this will increase as we continue to move into the future.
Finally, if you’d like to learn more – here is a link to the history of citizen journalism.
