According to Journalists Network the concept of citizen journalism, also known as "public", "participatory", "democratic", "guerrilla" or "street" journalism is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information.
My definition of Citizen is when a journalist focuses their practice of journalism to helping the community at large, through various methods of communication. Citizen Journalism best occurs when a journalist takes it upon themselves to make an effort to change people's lives, this type oj Journalism is Raw and Uncensored. There are three types of citizen journalism the first is part time the second is participatory. In part time citizen Journalism a journalist will seldom focus on the core aspect of citizen journalism but rather participate on when they cover stories that touch on citizen journalism. Participatory citizen journalism occurs when a journalist will take it upon him or herself to maintain their focus and stick to citizen journalism.
Citizen journalism will benefit my career as a Journalist in several ways, the improvement of Writing skills is one of the benefits one will gain from this genre of journalism. Promoting good will within communities and the nation at large will also help ones credibility. It is usually in most Journalists to promote good will by writing articles that will educate and help bring changes to their communities and the country. Citizen Journalism is not glamorous but it is will help groom a Journalists ability to write good stories. Within citizen Journalism a Journalist also has to take note of the possibilities of benign subjective in favour of the community or subject involved. This would not be the best practice of Journalism as Journalists are meant to be objective at all times, representing both sides is key in the field.
When studying to become a Journalist we are not exposed to citizen journalism or taught about it, Citizen Journalism is something that is taken upon by an individual, who makes the decision that they want to write in order to promote good will. Journalism as a field is associated with a lot of bad assumptions for instance "Journalist write lies” which people take from gossip columns and various celebrity scandals. Citizen journalism can be used as a tool that counters some of the bad assumptions that are often associated with journalism. Although this will not take away all the assumptions but it will also show people out there that beyond the assumptions and stigmas Journalism does have a positive impact on peoples, by helping to create change and awareness.
Articles on citizen Journalism can mostly be found on personal blogs belonging Journalists, as one has the freedom to publish what they want on their own platform without the many restrictions that may be inforced by certain media houses. Keep an eye a colse eye on the internet for Citizen Journalism on blogs belonging to Journalists, as this medium best shows how one thinks and also displays their style of writing.
For more info on Citizen Journalism go to:
Journalists Network http://journalists.net/article.php?article_id=4
No comments:
Post a Comment