Hello Everybody,
Today, am going to discuss with you a vital question that comes in the functioning of any democracy – it is the people’s participation to make democracy a success which we also know as ‘Citizen Journalism’. Certainly you must have come across this term but may not have figured out what it really meant….ah, then don’t worry; I have simplified it all for you!!
What is Citizen Journalism?
In simple words if I have to explain citizen journalism it is journalism by the people!
Citizen journalism as defined in the seminal report "We Media": How audiences are shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis, “Citizen Journalism, also known as public or participatory journalism or democratic journalism is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.”
The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.
Who can be a Citizen journalist?
You, me, everybody, audience, participants in a democracy, that’s why we also call it participatory journalism. And mind you, you don’t have to be a professional journalist to be a citizen journalist! Being a citizen journalist you write/ publish/ upload a first hand account of what you may have seen or been a witness to either in your neighborhood, office etc or on a place you may have happened to visit or on a spot/ site in the wake of an happening. So, it is here you may think that this information is newsworthy or there is something more that meets the eye, so it’s here where the role of a citizen journalist begins….
Why Citizen Journalism?
In our day to day lives there are so many things we come across or happen to get a first hand account of things even before journalists, reporters could queue up to get their story.
For instance you may be the first to witness that in a government office a colleague is asked for a bribe by an officer or in a police station one under-trial is forced to confess to a crime he has not committed or the 9/11 took place right opposite your building or you were a witness to a blast where you think you might have spotted the culprit….so now the big question is WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Merely watch and go to sleep and let it pass OR do something about it.
Today, am going to discuss with you a vital question that comes in the functioning of any democracy – it is the people’s participation to make democracy a success which we also know as ‘Citizen Journalism’. Certainly you must have come across this term but may not have figured out what it really meant….ah, then don’t worry; I have simplified it all for you!!
What is Citizen Journalism?
In simple words if I have to explain citizen journalism it is journalism by the people!
Citizen journalism as defined in the seminal report "We Media": How audiences are shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis, “Citizen Journalism, also known as public or participatory journalism or democratic journalism is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.”
The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.
Who can be a Citizen journalist?You, me, everybody, audience, participants in a democracy, that’s why we also call it participatory journalism. And mind you, you don’t have to be a professional journalist to be a citizen journalist! Being a citizen journalist you write/ publish/ upload a first hand account of what you may have seen or been a witness to either in your neighborhood, office etc or on a place you may have happened to visit or on a spot/ site in the wake of an happening. So, it is here you may think that this information is newsworthy or there is something more that meets the eye, so it’s here where the role of a citizen journalist begins….
Why Citizen Journalism?
In our day to day lives there are so many things we come across or happen to get a first hand account of things even before journalists, reporters could queue up to get their story.
For instance you may be the first to witness that in a government office a colleague is asked for a bribe by an officer or in a police station one under-trial is forced to confess to a crime he has not committed or the 9/11 took place right opposite your building or you were a witness to a blast where you think you might have spotted the culprit….so now the big question is WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Merely watch and go to sleep and let it pass OR do something about it.
Like take for instance in 2004, when the 9.1-magnitude underwater earthquake caused a huge tsunami in Banda Aceh Indonesia, news footage from many people who experienced the tsunami was widely broadcast. Or even when 9/11 took place the spectators who witnessed the burning of the twin tower and recorded them by means of their mobile camera phones were citizen journalism because they gave the world the first hand account of what happened. That’s why based on the footage it’s even discussed today on whether the twin tower collapsed because of the planes that hit it or was it an internal …..that triggered it of.
Certainly each one of us can make a difference? And today we are living in a digital age where ‘technology’ is the winner all the way. ….and still at the end of it if you think you are helpless and finding excuses that you can’t do a thing about it…then you’re wrong!
How can I be a citizen journalist?
It’s simple….you can write first hand account of what you have seen by blogging or publishing it on news sites etc. If you have a picture of it then it can be posted online on so many social networking sites and forums and if you have a video of an event/ news happening then you could post it on you-tube or vimeo and share the link with the world so that millions could be a witness to your testimony!!!
What does it take to become a citizen journalist?
Nothing really!! You need to be an aware, informed and an alert citizen. It’s your concern and sensitivity to the situations prevalent/ happening around you that qualifies you into becoming a good citizen journalist.
And of course you need a computer or a laptop equipped with an internet connection, mobile equipped with a camera or a digital camera or camcorder…and how much does it cost?? Technology is getting cheaper by the day…thanks to the Chinese markets where for less than $100 you could get a mobile phone with a camera! Certainly it doesn’t pinch your pocket…surely you’d splurge more than twice or thrice this amount when you go to the pub or on a week-end!
Now at the end of it am just hoping that if five of you have read this article then at least three of you would have absorbed what I have said and one of you would have applied it practically! So my hunch tells me that one in five have great chances of becoming a good citizen journalist!! And I’m not joking….so you see one person can make a difference!! Rather I’d say each one of you can become one!!
Anyway, as always do not forget to write in/ post your comments on what you may have liked/ disliked about this article and what you may wish to read on this site in the coming weeks.
Take care,
Love,
Sonyaa
Certainly each one of us can make a difference? And today we are living in a digital age where ‘technology’ is the winner all the way. ….and still at the end of it if you think you are helpless and finding excuses that you can’t do a thing about it…then you’re wrong!
How can I be a citizen journalist?
It’s simple….you can write first hand account of what you have seen by blogging or publishing it on news sites etc. If you have a picture of it then it can be posted online on so many social networking sites and forums and if you have a video of an event/ news happening then you could post it on you-tube or vimeo and share the link with the world so that millions could be a witness to your testimony!!!
What does it take to become a citizen journalist?
Nothing really!! You need to be an aware, informed and an alert citizen. It’s your concern and sensitivity to the situations prevalent/ happening around you that qualifies you into becoming a good citizen journalist.
And of course you need a computer or a laptop equipped with an internet connection, mobile equipped with a camera or a digital camera or camcorder…and how much does it cost?? Technology is getting cheaper by the day…thanks to the Chinese markets where for less than $100 you could get a mobile phone with a camera! Certainly it doesn’t pinch your pocket…surely you’d splurge more than twice or thrice this amount when you go to the pub or on a week-end!
Now at the end of it am just hoping that if five of you have read this article then at least three of you would have absorbed what I have said and one of you would have applied it practically! So my hunch tells me that one in five have great chances of becoming a good citizen journalist!! And I’m not joking….so you see one person can make a difference!! Rather I’d say each one of you can become one!!
Anyway, as always do not forget to write in/ post your comments on what you may have liked/ disliked about this article and what you may wish to read on this site in the coming weeks.
Take care,
Love,
Sonyaa
1 comment:
Truly the time has come for this great idea of citizen journalism to take root in every civil society. Let us all become watchdogs of our democracy. Beauty of the idea is that we dont have to go to any place to practice it. This can start even outside our own home where we notice something unusual & report it!
Sonyaa keep up the good work we are all with you.
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