As a journalism major in the US, I have actually studied citizen journalism before. Citizen journalism scares me somewhat because it is possible that citizen journalism can take over and there will be no need for professional journalists. I certainly hope that is not the case because I would really like a job when I graduate. I do think that professional journalism will need to be around to validate sources. When someone posts on a citizen journalism site, they need to back up their facts. Unless they were an eye-witness, they need a credible source or many people will not believe them.
Now just because I am scared of citizen journalism does not mean that I don't like it. I actually think it is fantastic. It even gives professional journalists something to bounce their ideas off of. I find the iReport feature on cnn.com amazing. People can post what is happening around them and interact with other people about their own story or stories of others. There are also the comment boxes on online newspapers. I think that they are fantastic and will hopefully help keep newspapers alive a little longer. It is just like the old days when someone would write a letter, only this gets published directly online.
I agree with you that professional journalism needs to stick around and validate its sources, eye witness accounts is one thing but stories need have evidence to back them up or else people just won't believe it.
ReplyDeleteI think traditional journalists will always be around, because of the style and the way most of our parents grew up. I know for one my dad and stepdad read the paper everyday. The like a little respectability, So i agree with you there.
ReplyDeleteI think the trend will move more and more to the ideal that we are all eye witnesses, technology has given us the ability to shoot HD videos from our phone. This could eventually help incriminate someone, save someone, validate someone... The list goes on.
I too agree that citizen journalism is a good thing. Interesting point that it can actually help career journalists come up with new stories.
Maybe professional journalism will find a new model, like we have discussed with regard to the music industry model having to adapt as a result of online sharing. We talked about this in tut also I think when we proposed how Borders bookstore could change its business model to compete with Amazon. Maybe professional journalism will have to adapt to a new political and corporate environment and learn to utilise the possibilities of Citizen Journalism somehow while also capitalising on its access to specialised sources as you suggested :)
ReplyDelete• I completely agree with you, I think that there is a need for professional journalism. There reliance on sources makes them much more credible than citizen journalist, and I think/hope there will still be a place for them in our future. I also agree that citizen journalism is important though, it is much more mainstream, and often covers more important issues than what is cover by major news cooperation because there are no political or economic factors that back what they chose to write about and publish. Professional Journalism should be able to use and bounce of the ideas that citizen journalist report on though, and I think you have used some great examples of just that in your post.
ReplyDeleteProfessional and citizen journalists need to embrace the pro-am relationship. You will just be on the "pro" side of what is becoming a broader journalistic world. We are now getting our news from many different perspectives. It is up to us the consumers to sort the credible sources from the rubbish and word spreads fast over the internet.
ReplyDeleteCitizen journalism becomes powerful in shaping online audience, and it turns to more entertainment and flexible reporting. Indeed, the difference between professional journalism and citizen journalism is the way how they report. Though citizen journalism becomes powerful, it does not mean it can replace professional journalism. Professional journalism takes more responsibility for society also reach to wide audience than citizen journalism. Also, professional journalism is more national, that is they have sort of connection with government. The reason why professional journalism can not be replaced by citizen journalism is because they have such a responsibility for the society and government.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or are professional journalists not as reliable as they claim to be. Personally, I tend to take a lot of what I read with a pinch of salt, and the difference between a professional and a citizen journalist, in reality, is minute. Now I am definitely not saying that every journalist is untrustworthy, but to me the profession seems to be a magnet for scandals. In my experience, some of the most well written and researched pieces of journalism I have come across were penned by the "amateur" journalist.
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