Citizen Journalism… Pro Journo RIP?
Citizen journalism is the a concept whereby regular citizens of society can partake in the collection, reporting and analysing of news and information through new media platforms such as blogs and websites (Flew 2008). The main objective of this behaviour is to deliver reliable and relevant news and information to society under a democratic form of governance (Flew 2008). Citizen journalism has been criticised since its inception for been an unreliable source of information that lacks credibility, particularly the amateur journalists that publish said information. Some professional journalists and academics claim that these amateur journalists lack the meticulousness and ethical practice that professional journalists obtain, which are integral tools to possess in reporting news and information. Are these criticisms factual or are they just an attempt by professionals to tarnish citizen journalism as the future of their craft is potentially at an end?
The main motive behind this post is to indentify if the advent of citizen journalism has brought with it the demise of professional journalism. Many academics and professional journalists have published articles on the credibility of many citizen journalism blogsites, in particular Tom Grubisich (2005) who reviewed ten citizen journalism sites and found that the sites in question were lacking in both content and quality. In 2006 Tom Grubisich published another article (‘Potemkin Village’ Redux) whereby he reviewed the same 10 sites that were previously scrutinised in 2005 and found that the sites had improved dramatically. This improvement is a result of produsage theory, whereby over time the quality of content and information improves as natural filtering processes are employed to achieve to best possible result (Bruns 2008). This occurrence of improved editorial function could lead to the notion that, eventually as citizen journalism sites gain experience in journalistic activities in time they could rival sites that are administered by large corporate counterparts, thereby making the position of professional journalist invalid.
I don’t believe that there will be an end to the position of professional journalist. However there is a significant shift towards a more participatory role for a community in reporting news and information. James Carey said that “the end of journalism simply means carrying on and amplifying the conversation of the people themselves” (Bruns 2008). This paradigm of conversation and collective participation highlights the shift towards more community based news where more people can have their say on specific news stories, as well as, add topics that they think are valid. In the long run this is a more democratic approach to news and information production (the essence of citizen journalism).
There will always be a role for the professional journalist in the mean time. I just think that as a result of this concept of citizen journalism and the shift that has occurred that they have lost some power to the masses, as new media has given people the capacity to portray and publish their own thoughts.
Here is a question to think about. If a citizen journalist becomes more respected by the community within a particular citizen journalism blogsite and over time as the site becomes more popular and eventually they generate an income from reporting on the said blogsite, aren’t they a journalist in a certain sense of the profession?
The advent of citizen journalism has been a positive step forward with regard to the advertising world. Advertising blogs such as Adverblog showcase outstanding advertising attempts being performed by leading organisations around. The blogs are posted by advertising professionals around the world and are a great source of information relating to everything “advertising”. This community based participatory culture paradigm is evident in Adverblog’s online sphere, and as a result of people posting Adverblog has become a very comprehensive tool to all advertising professionals. It allows them to see what is going on in the world, as well as, permitting them the capacity to harness several ideas that feature within some of the posts.
