I haven’t always appreciated citizen journalism.
As a traditional journalist, trained at newspapers, I initially discredited anyone who thought that all it took to be a journalist was a story to tell and the means to tell it.
Mere citizens, I argued, did not have to uphold the values of accuracy, fairness, transparency and independence, as true journalists must. The citizen would not be held accountable for verifying facts, interviewing multiple sources and getting all sides of a story. A citizen would not face rigorous questioning during a multilayered editing process. And if a citizen got it wrong, well, they’d have no obligation to report it — unlike real journalists, who are responsible to publicly make errors right.
But as the digital era and now media convergence began to disrupt traditional journalism, the tools of the trade became globally accessible. Now, all that anyone needs to spread the news can be held in the palm of her hand.
And as I watched the transformative influence of grassroots newsgathering on our society, my appreciation and acceptance of citizen journalists — “activist amateurs,” as the textbook “Media & Culture” puts it — began to grow.
Today I’m grateful for cell phone videos by courageous citizens that uncover unlawful police-involved violence — it forces the nation to confront the “trigger-happy policin’ ” that Marvin Gaye testified about in his “Inner City Blues.” Many people, like Marvin, always knew it was real; now others are forced to face the facts.
I cheer when oppressed people stand up to corrupt governments and coalesce on social media to topple them. The Arab Spring of 2011 was a victory for freedom, thanks in part to the stories and videos revolutionary global citizens distributed to the world using Twitter and Facebook.
And I respect any ordinary citizen that understands the power they have to influence the world they experience by sharing authentic stories with others who need to know.
Citizen, journalism is yours.
CMSU Reflections 