What is Citizen Journalism?
Citizen journalism is a kind of journalism or reporting carried out by common citizens. It is known by various names, including grass-roots journalism, participatory journalism, or even less commonly vigilante journalism.
The reporter of the story in citizen journalism is almost always an amateur who happened to have been around the scene of the incident.
We live in an age where information is literally at our fingertips, but how often have you heard your more skeptical friends tell you not to believe everything you hear in the media? Quite often, right?
The reason that there is a lack of trust between the public and big media networks is corporate and government interests versus the public interest.
It is no coincidence that six corporations in America own 90% of the media.
In such an environment where channels of information are controlled by corporate and government interests, citizen journalism is not only a breath of fresh air but also an opportunity for citizens to wrest the control of media back from elitist interests.
Citizen journalists are not affiliated with any organization like reporters from traditional media.
Citizen journalism has been made possible by the widespread use of social media platforms such as news sources like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram et cetera.
What is the Work of a Citizen Journalist?
A citizen journalist is not bound by editorial guidelines. This means more room for pursuing stories of interest that are not covered by traditional media channels.
ACTIVITY
Have a read of this and consider the rise of citizen journalism to include as part of your Media Ecology Essay
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/photojournalism/power-people
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