How far does the influence of citizen journalism stretch?

Citizen journalism is described by Fernando as a form of “hybrid, grassroots, open source, participatory reporting” (2008). It is the ability of an average person working externally to the mass media to disseminate information to the public. Some of the earlier instances of citizen journalism date back to the American Revolution of the 1700s. Pamphleteers, such as Thomas Paine were responsible for igniting the movement and stirring the hearts of everyday Americans and intellectuals alike (Independence Hall Association, 2008). As a result, the revolution achieved a greater level of support and therefore succeeded.

Although it is by no means a new phenomenon, citizen journalism has become more prominent in the modern era due to new media developments such as the internet. The internet has allowed for any individual with the desire to do so to publish their work. Many do this in the form of uploading videos and photos, writing articles and blogging. In line with traditional forms of news media; the topics discussed by journalists in their blogs range from politics, to celebrities, to sport. Due to the ease and efficiency of publishing work, blogging has become extremely popular, resulting in a mass amount of content on many different issues.

One major issue with regards to citizen journalism is the lack of gate keeping available to filter fallacies and other inappropriate information. Whereas traditional news formats have employers responsible for fact checking, citizen journalists only have members of the online communities of which they belong to judge their work. Therefore, a great many of these publications do not warrant the same level of respect from readers as regular media outlets.

However some scholars maintain that this lack of gate keeping can have positive consequences. The freedom of any person to publish information allows more viewpoints and issues to be presented and can counteract the biased overtones of many traditional media formats (Bruns, 2008). For example, in Burma, the Military Junta have control over the national media, and therefore have heavily censored news coverage of the recent protests regarding the decision to remove fuel subsidies. In September of 2007, several protesters were assassinated by the Junta. As the media were unable to report on the matter, it was actually citizen journalists who provided international media with footage of the assassinations (Fernando, 2008).

Whilst the efforts of the citizen journalists, or pamphleteers as they were known, were successful in building support for the American Revolution, scholars often debate the influence and respect of such journalism in the modern world, despite the fact it is so common. Taking the points discussed above into consideration, it can be said that the influence of citizen journalism can have the same level of impact as traditional forms of media such as newspapers and television reports. In fact many of these traditional media outlets are now aware of the influence of citizen journalism, and are using it to their advantage. An example of this is the news television broadcasters acquiring footage taken by local citizens of the 2001 September 11 attacks in New York. If these citizens had not filmed the event, the people of the world would not have the same recollection of the first plane colliding with the World Trade Centre.

Reference List

Bruns, A. (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang.

Independence Hall Association. (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/index.htm.

Fernando, A. (2008). Citizen-powered journalism fills a void. Communication World, 25(1), 2-9. Retrieved May 5, 2008, from EbscoHost.