Citizen Journalism

 

"Every citizen is a reporter." 

This is a quote by OhMyNews creator, Oh. The term "citizen journalism" and the practice began in South Korea with the creation of .OhMyNews Oh and three other colleagues said they were tired of traditional South Korean press, so they started this website. The idea behind this site was that anyone can participate in the finding and creation of news. 

Citizen Journalism, according to EBSCO, is "the practice of reporting news events by individuals who do not have formal journalism training, often utilizing the internet and social media platforms to share information...Citizen journalists are typically ordinary people who report on significant events, including disasters and political crises, using smartphones and social media to disseminate real-time updates and footage." 

What are the pros and cons?

Some pros of citizen journalism include: allowing citizens to participate in gathering news, allowing for blogging and social media platforms, it can fill the gaps that traditional media might miss, and it can provide real-time coverage of events. Some cons of citizen journalism include: citizens lack professional training, there is potential for misinformation due to fact-checking and citizens' susceptibility to rumors, citizen credibility issues can lead to decreased accountability, and their limited resources mean citizens are underpaid/not paid at all. 

How does it impact society? 

Citizen journalism impacts society by increasing freedom of expression by giving the people a voice, allows the people to hold the government accountable, and provides alternate perspectives that you might not typically hear from professional journalists. Citizen journalism situates the individual within history as it happens. Typically we think of history as fact and something that happened long, long ago in a far away land. Citizen journalism allows citizens to promote and share history as it happens. It gives a voice to the people who would not typically be included in society. It lets minorities speak for themselves and brings a balance between them and the majority. Usually you have to wait for the news crews to arrive and set up before they start recording. Now, citizens can pull out their phones and record immediately or stream the event to the whole world. 

How does citizen journalism affect US?

Citizen journalism impacts me because it allows me to feel connected to current events. I don't watch news or typically have super strong opinions on the news, so it can be hard to feel a certain type of way about what's being presented when it is shown by traditional/professional journalists. However, when I come across TikTok and YouTube videos of people's reaction to news or videos of people actually being a part of whatever is happening, I feel much more connected to the situation. What I mean to say, is it can be hard to gauge emotions off a reporter who is trained to be emotionless, but citizens have real, raw reactions to news that you can clearly see in the videos they post. 

Citizen journalism allows people of my generation to be apart of big events in history. It gives us a voice when the older generations fail to listen. It allows us to connect to one another through shared interest and experiences.