When
addressing the question of whether or not the new social media and Online
opportunities encourage more direct participation in citizen journalism, I
believe it is most important to determine what exactly is meant by ‘citizen
journalism’. As Hermida (2012) recognizes, the ease of access and immediacy of
social media endorse the expansion of journalism to encompass individuals who
report on events but are not actual journalists. As much as individuals may be
encouraged to participate within social media platforms, such as Twitter and
Facebook, to produce news information, this does not necessarily grant this
individual the title of ‘journalist’.
Dahlgren (2012) indicates that citizen journalism is not simply about citizens writing journalism for the sake of it, but about civic engagement and democratic renewal. I believe it is easy for anyone to jump onto the Internet, log into a platform such as Twitter, and begin producing what they believe to be ‘journalism’. I think in order for individuals to properly exercise their journalist abilities through new media and social media platforms, one must be properly educated as to what is actually considered to be citizen journalism and how to produce information in a journalistic manner.
Simulataneously, and in contrast, Bruns and Highfield (2012) regard the replacement of proper journalism with that of citizen journalism. With the large advancement in new media and digital technology, users are granted access to an increase in available channels for information and knowledge-production, both from a consumer and producer standpoint. Technology has allowed for the undermining of the existing business model of conventional newspaper publishing through specialist Websites and general search engines that provide more effective and easy search platforms for various purposes.
Overall, I believe that new social media and Online opportunities do, in fact, encourage more direct participation in citizen journalism. The Internet allows individuals to democratically participate and contribute information in a manner that is not possible to occur in the convention business model of news production. The Internet allows for individuals to contribute and search what they deem to be important, allowing a plethora of information to be accessed and available. After reviewing the assigned readings for this module, I believe a citizen journalist is an individual who democratically contributes appropriate and resourced knowledge and information. When this definition is followed, it is easy to see that the Internet absolutely encourages this type of participation and knowledge-production.
Dahlgren (2012) indicates that citizen journalism is not simply about citizens writing journalism for the sake of it, but about civic engagement and democratic renewal. I believe it is easy for anyone to jump onto the Internet, log into a platform such as Twitter, and begin producing what they believe to be ‘journalism’. I think in order for individuals to properly exercise their journalist abilities through new media and social media platforms, one must be properly educated as to what is actually considered to be citizen journalism and how to produce information in a journalistic manner.
Simulataneously, and in contrast, Bruns and Highfield (2012) regard the replacement of proper journalism with that of citizen journalism. With the large advancement in new media and digital technology, users are granted access to an increase in available channels for information and knowledge-production, both from a consumer and producer standpoint. Technology has allowed for the undermining of the existing business model of conventional newspaper publishing through specialist Websites and general search engines that provide more effective and easy search platforms for various purposes.
Overall, I believe that new social media and Online opportunities do, in fact, encourage more direct participation in citizen journalism. The Internet allows individuals to democratically participate and contribute information in a manner that is not possible to occur in the convention business model of news production. The Internet allows for individuals to contribute and search what they deem to be important, allowing a plethora of information to be accessed and available. After reviewing the assigned readings for this module, I believe a citizen journalist is an individual who democratically contributes appropriate and resourced knowledge and information. When this definition is followed, it is easy to see that the Internet absolutely encourages this type of participation and knowledge-production.
References
Bruns, A. & T. Highfield. (2012). Blogs, Twitter, and breaking news: The produsage of citizen journalism. pre-publication draft on personal site [Snurb.info]. Published in: Lind, R. A. ed. (2012). Produsing Theory in a Digital World: The Intersection of Audiences and Production. New York: Peter Lang. p15-32.
Dahlgren, P. (2012). Reinventing participation: civic agency and the web environment. Geopolitics, History, and International Relations. 4.2, p27.
Hermida, A. (2012). TWEETS AND TRUTH: Journalism as a discipline of collaborative verification. Journalism Practice. 6:5-6, p659-668.
Although I think it is important for citizens to be informed about and engaged in their communities, I agree that blogging or tweeting about events does not make them a journalist. People need to recognize that just because they have a blog dedicated to a topic, this does not make them professional journalists. When looking for information about topics and events, people need to recognize that there are professional and citizen journalists, and critically think about the information they receive.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your statement there that because social media outlets allow you to participate in posting information you cannot call yourself a journalist. Twitter allows that very easily because of their hashtag group similar posts to similar trending topics in the social world. I don’t however agree that one needs to have an education to be able to reiritate opinions. The only problem I find is that participants are not engaging enough with their resources and believing unverified information very easily and retweeting that. I think that citizens need to gather information from different sources to be able to produce information in a journalistic manner.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement in the final paragraph where you say that the internet encourages online participation including citizen journalism. While I do not personally engage in citizen journalism, I think the internet offers people the opportunity to comment on issues being discussed on the internet. Furthermore, social media platforms allow people to go beyond simply consuming information, but also allow people the opportunity to produse content and add the information already on the internet. While the internet has become a place of free speech and commentary, I think it is important to be mindful of the information people post online, and to be aware that the information may not be accurate or fully representative.
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