"When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism." - Jay Rosen, PressThink
Since the 1980's and 1990's, with the emergence of public access television and, with the rise of the internet, Indymedia and other activist groups, there has been an on-going and often rancorous discussion about what exactly is a 'citizen journalist.' Since about 2003, things have really heated up. The definition provided on the Citizen Journalism Wiki site is taken from "We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information", by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis: the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information." To really look at this issue, however, it is important to look at not only 'what' is a citizen journalist' but also the 'why' is there a citizen journalist?
Two of the most often cited reasons are the Internet and frustration and disillusionment with the way traditional, or legacy, media have covered the news for years, increasingly cutting out the voices and stories of the communities they are charged with covering in favor of covering stories more favorable to the organizations' bottom-line, i.e.the stockholders. There is a feeling that journalistic responsibilities have largely, although not universally, been ignored. The rise of the Internet and the increasing penetration it has achieved into more and more homes has allowed previously unheard of access for ordinary citizens to publish their stories for their families, friends, and the whole world to read.
Its interesting to note that in the beginning of this , the concern was that authors of books would be the most affected. This was quickly surpassed by the realization by the public that they could use the tools being developed for desktop publishing to be applied to the Internet thereby allowing anybody be an author. This movement eventually led to people posting novels and news stories of their own, first to list-servs and discussion boards, then to websites and weblogs. So the claim could be made by anyone with access to a keyboard and the Net that they were authors and journalists- even without official training and experience. Add to this picture the social networking tools of web 2.0 and the entire landscape has changed forever.
Is citizen journalism a “legitimate” replacement?
Is this movement a legitimate replacement for news from legacy sources with trained professionals who adhere to a strict conduct of journalistic standards? Not entirely. But the definitions of standards have to be examined in light of the new media movement and the resources available to anyone who wants to take the role of a journalist seriously. Standards can be observed and adhered to and skills can be learned without going to journalism school. The recent history of disregard of the public interest by many in the legacy media cannot be ignored. The status quo in the media industry cannot continue, especially since the same world wide web that provides a vehicle for exploding public discourse also is hammering their business models as more and more people go on-line to read and watch what previously was only available by picking up a newspaper or tuning in a TV station. Classified ads moved to Craig's List and other sites for free, advertising on websites can be had for a fraction of the cost of papers and TV news (which isn't good news for on-line news sites, either), and the classifieds, a major cash cow, are all but dead.
Predictions:
The future probably will involve a hybrid of legacy media that is open to material from many sources, professional and non-professional. Vetting will be standard, truth and fairness a priority, and editors will have extremely important roles to play when it comes to verifying stories but not acting as gatekeepers as they did in previous models of journalism. . There will be many less traditional jobs for trained journalists, and they will have to be literate in multi-media production as well as writing. Many jobs will probably be in specialized publications like in-house papers (like Mayo and other corporate organs) and will focus on communities and will necessitate a flexibility of all who want to practice journalism. Jeff Jarvis provides a good outline here. The competition will be even fiercer than it is now, but there will always be a place for a trained journalist who has a story to tell and the ability to do it well. Extremely well. And this person could be out of a J- school or a citizen journalism background as lines become blurred. As retired Post executive editor Ben Bradlee puts it: "They've got to love what they're doing; they've got to be serious about turning over rocks, opening doors. The story drives you. It's part of your soul." This sentiment was also expressed at a recent National Press Club meeting in Minneapolis by Nancy Barnes and Joel Kramer: (notes later)
A very interesting development on the horizon is Web 3.0, the semantic web. This will cause yet another adjustment for the industry and the craft of journalism, and will introduce a whole new definition of a journalist: computer programmers who understand how to observe and facilitate the flow of news in the next big web development. It holds the promise of a whole new set of possibilities for journalism and the role it plays in the education of the public in a democratic society.
Sources:
Dan Gillmor, "We, the Media" Accelerating Change. 51 minutes, 23.4mb, recorded 2004-11-06 (mp3)
Tery Heaton's PoMo Blog, "Journalism's New Values"
New Media Timeline (2008), By David Shedden, Library Director, Poynter Institute
Your Guide to Citizen Journalism, by Mark Glaser, Mediashift,
National Press Club presentation, Coffman Memorial Union, U of MN, November, 2008 (notes)
Center for Citizen Media
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