#8: Citizen Journalism

 

        In the age of social media, the term citizen journalism has hit an all-time high as the ability to spread information rapidly continues to grow and evolve in the world around us. Citizen journalism has existed long before the internet however, citizen journalism simply refers to the spread of information by those who are not trained, professional journalists. Famous home videos such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy were not filmed by a professional journalist, but instead by a citizen. We still see examples of this today where videos of events on the news will be taken by local citizens in the area which the mainstream media will then use for their own news coverage of the situation. Even now, citizens in Ukraine are using home video to document the invasion by Russian forces while is then covered by mainstream media.

    Today, citizen journalism has peaked due to social media and the internet. The ability for us as citizens to spread information quickly at our fingertips has revolutionized journalism across the globe. Citizen journalism has become a double-edged sword with the ability to spread misinformation or biased information too. Yet, Citizen Journalism has still revolutionized journalism through a more democratic process of gathering information whether it be through individual photographs, videos, etc.

    The term citizen journalism first came about in South Korea during the early 2000s when citizens had expressed their dissatisfaction with the traditional news media in the country. One entrepreneur declared that "every citizen is a journalist" which prompted the creation of a local city newspaper. As the business continued to grow and a lack of employees, the website OhmyNews was started. As the internet has continued to grow, so has the number of citizen journalists around the globe. More and more apps and websites like the one in South Korea have been developed such as the Nextdoor Neighbor app which connects local citizens together to discuss local issues and report events in their area.

    A study performed in 2016 indicated that over half of professional journalists use social media to find and develop stories, thus further spreading the information provided by these citizen journalists. The concern is always that citizen journalism will always have its flaws in the reliability of the information provided as well as the facts versus the opinions being presented by the individual, still the fact is that nobody can deny the impact that citizen journalism has had on the journalism world today.