Dear readers,
Jeff Ooi, Raja Petra Kamarudin, Scott Thong – these are shining local examples of citizen journalism via blog. What is citizen journalism, you ask? According to Laura Riggio (2007), citizen journalism is the principle that “anyone can be a journalist – it doesn’t have to be left to the professionals. Blogging gives the amateur a chance to voice his or her opinions, ideas, and thoughts without an editor”. NYU Professor Jay Rosen writes in his blog PressThink that “the people formally known as the audience are taking a permanent seat in the changing world of journalism”.
Citizen journalism has several advantages over traditional journalism: they can cater to niche markets, or perhaps report on things that traditional newsrooms cannot do due to time or budget constraints (just run a Google search for the 2004 tsunami and see how many examples of citizen journalism there are!).
Korea currently leads the way in pioneering citizen journalism, being one of the most Internet-literate countries in the world, according to The Media Report’s show on Alternative Online Media (click the link for a transcript!). The news website OhMyNews, brainchild of Jean K. Min, has more than more than 45,000 people who act as journalists. Being a liberal and progressive media, we learn that despite tradition being dispensed with, principles such as credibility and accountability are still paramount.
According to Bentley (2008), citizen journalism in the form of blogs provides an outlet for those discontented with the everyday media. There are also the obvious, theoretical benefits of blogs and citizen journalism: with more and more Internet users each day, functionality increases. According to Penman (1998), “a document’s functionality is dependent on its structure matching readers’ habits, expectations, and context of use”. This is a highly pertinent point as more people are become accustomed to using the Internet for everything.
(Cartoonstock.com, Royston, 2005.)
As Bentley said, citizen journalism is improving journalism as a whole. I hold with this idea firmly: the future of traditional journalism and citizen journalism is the same, two paths to the same location. Journalism without a preface.
References
- Bentley, C. D. (2008). Citizen Journalism: Back to the Future? University of Missouri School of Journalism. Viewed 13 November from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/carnegie_knight/Conference%20June%202008/Bentley.%20Citizen%20Journalism.pdf
- Penman, R. (1998). Document structures and readers’ habits’. Communication News, Vol. 11 pp10-11.
- Riggio, L. (2007). Blogs and Citizen Journalism: The Effect on Our Culture. Viewed 12 November from http://mediacrit.wetpaint.com/page/Blogs+and+Citizen+Journalism:+The+Effect+on+Our+Culture?t=anon
- Rosen, J. (2008). Bloggers vs Journalists is Over. New York University. Viewed 11 November 2008 from http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/01/21/berk_essy.html
- The Media Report. (2008). Leading the Way in User-Input Journalism. ABC Radio National. Viewed 12 November from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2007/1843323.htm
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