Commentary

Citizen Journalism

Have you heard the term yet? If not--citizen journalism is also known as participatory journalism. For instance, this weekend I saw video footage of the devastating tornados in Tennessee on the news as well as online. Much of the footage was taken by amateurs--aka, someone with a video camera.

Webopedia defines citizen journalism as the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information." However, many times it happens as a result of circumstance.

Certainly this is journalism as we've never seen it before. According to the seminal report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis, "The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires."

Media futurists have predicted that by 2021, "citizens will produce 50 percent of the news peer-to-peer." However, mainstream news media have yet to meaningfully adopt or experiment with these new forms. How do you feel about this? I truly believe in the power of word of mouth. I also respect freedom of speech. However, I cringe when I think of citizens as journalists. Isn't the value of journalism its objectiveness? If so, is the appeal of citizen journalism the sheer point-blank opinion of it all?

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Before I purchase something on eBay, I pay attention to seller reviews. When I'm selecting movies to put in my online queue, I not only look at the site's recommendations based on my profile, I look at user reviews. Would I believe a citizen journalist's account on, hmm, let's say, what's going on in Iraq? Not so much. Is this true for all citizens? No. I'd really have to look at someone's background and credibility prior to taking such prose as fact.

Then I see amateur video and don't think twice about believing it. Sure the resolution is often pixilated, the images often unfocused and the overall footage often shaky--but most pictures don't lie. Sure, things could be staged. But who could fake a tornado?

As an on-demand culture, our mentality is sound-byte at best. We often don't have time to go through a newspaper at length, or watch the 11 o'clock news for that matter. We do process a lot online: headlines, video clips, and top-line content, to name a few. Many now know a little about a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing what is happening. The Web gives us such a phenomenal opportunity to write, post, edit, and obtain information in mere seconds today. That in itself is very cool. I love the edginess of blogs and the timeliness of RSS feeds.

As each vehicle becomes more popular, I'm sure it will be survival of the fittest. The stats (although varied by source) are already out as they relates to the number of people using blogs: Forrester reports 10 percent; eMarketer 14 percent; PEW 25 percent; Princeton Survey 27 percent; ComScore 30 percent. About 12 million Americans have created a blog. The total number doubles every 5 months or so. That is about 700,000 blogs created daily. However, out of those 700,000, 76,000 are shut down for lack of content or financial support.

Many folks--at least ¾ of the online population-- don't even know what an RSS feed is yet. Adults are the heaviest users of RSS feeds. I anticipate usage and acceptance to skyrocket over the next one to four years.

I firmly believe there is a blurry line between fact and fiction online. All these new(er) vehicles help keep content fresh and ever-changing. We are entertained by many online personalities. Some we even identify with, while others remain a mystery to us. Will the influx of citizen journalism make old-school journalism and legitimate online journalists a commodity? Post to the Spin blog, share your opinions and insights and read others.

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