The creation of new technologies including
blog sites, social networks, and the use of smart phones with cameras, allow
members of the public without any journalistic training to participate in
debates and publish their own point of view about a range of subjects. Articles
written by citizen journalists may contain anything within the news, however
there have been debates as to whether this type of journalism is good or bad
for mainstream media?
Some advantages of citizen journalists are
that members of public are able to alert the media to news stories that they
may not already know about, or that professional journalists have not got the
ability to cover. Citizen journalists can be a massive help by providing
written reports in addition to photographs and videos in real time. For example
many stories regarding the Arab Spring have been covered by citizen journalists
when mainstream media were unable to reach areas of conflict or a media
blackout was in place. Smaller newspapers often need to rely on citizen
journalists for the latest updates, due to their low staff count.
Some disadvantages are that as journalists
your views are suppose to be non-biased and balanced, however citizen
journalists will generally only put their view across, which effectively could
give the article an unfair outcome. Many professional journalists believe that
the quality of an article from a citizen journalist is often of a poor
standard, and lack content. As a British citizen you have freedom of speech,
therefore as a citizen journalist, you have the power to say what you like,
however this can sometimes be dangerous resulting in the possibility of libel
claim. During the past year a number of people have been charged for statements
they have published via social networks or online blogs due to them being
offensive or untrue. Professional journalists have rules to abide by albeit
these are under review following recent scandals.
Through my own experience of posting on social
networks I see citizen journalists as complementing mainstream media by
providing speedier reports and information from a range of sources that allow
mainstream media reports to be better balanced and factually more accurate.
Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful that u'v tried to paint a positive picture to my research, But to just use an interlink of the two
ReplyDelete[Citizen.j and Proff Journalism} as bringing out both advantages and disadvantages whereas these do not match on grounds of "profession" isn't more of a weakness my buddy ?
I like your view of citizen journalism.
ReplyDeleteAlso this form of journalism will be more reliable if only writers realize that with the freedom of expressing views, they also become responsible of its consequences, irrespective of good or bad.