Citizen Journalism: Legitimate or Not?

“When major events occur, the public can offer us as much new information as we are able to broadcast to them. From now on, news coverage is a partnership” (Richard Sambrook, BBC)

Citizen Journalism is an extremely controversial term. Journalists defend their right in that you are trained to be a journalist and that it is a professional discipline. Others beleive that you can just snap a picture of something and share it with the world and beleive that is journalism.

Citizen Journalism is a global phenomena. Each and every day, we see thousands, if not millions of people posting information and pictures to help spread news, information, and analysis of events. My personal opinion is that journalism is a profession and you have to have the proper training and skills to call yourself a journalist, but that in a case of an event or new information, if a person is the frist to report about it and it spreads into the media, I would also call them a journalist in that instance. It is a tricky term, but it can be applied depending on the situation.

Technological advances have greatly benefitted to the increase in citizen journalism. Having cameras on cell phones, ipads, ipods, etc allow us to record or capture something at any moment and relay that information on any social media website or just the general Internet in seconds. Information travels so fast these days, it is hard to constantly always have the right information and to be fully informed on what is going on. But with just short videos or pictures of events or people, society is able to know about a story in a very short context, versus reading an entire article.

Citizen journalism is participatory and has changed the entire dynamic of news reports and the relationship between broadcasters and audiences. Now, an ordinary person has the opportunity to make news just by the click of a camera or pressing the record button. It truly is incredible and will change society forever.

Once a journalist, always a journalist.

The Transition from 1.0 to 2.0 and beyond

Over the past 50 years, there have been several transitions in the way we use technology. Before the information society we are currently living in, people mainly depended exclusively on the media for information regarding news about people around us and the rest of the world. We have seen quite a transformation, as there has been a move toward everybody not just being receivers, but messengers too. The objective of getting news around the world has stayed the same, but there are just new ways to get there.

The Internet had transformed our lives. Initially, the use of the Internet was very limited a few specialized field and used as an investigation platform. This was the 1.0 era, where the corporations has all the power By the time 1990 rolled around, the world saw the first Internet browser and it changed the world. This is the 2.0 era, in which the user is beginning to gain power. Nowadays, we use the web as a place to present ourselves, sell items, and for pleasure. This is the transition from 2.0 to what some call 3.0, as the user has much of the power, but may be able to acquire better versions with some bills.

Not only do we surf the net, but we also contribute. Through sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, we are able to have a voice and share our pictures with our family, friends, and the world. We are able to network with our friends, families, and strangers all around the world and communicate anywhere. These sites and applications are free at the moment and here are so many different sites and applications, it is hard to imagine where technology, sites, and applications will go next. There seems to be a transition from 2.0 to 3.0 as there are options of buying a better version of an application or site with more features. Why pay this extra money and why isn´t it free? It seems like we have it all at the moment. What will be in the future? I guess we´ll all have to wait and find out.