Citizen Journalism and the Future of Journalism, Matt White

To start, I thought it would be useful to give my perspective on what I feel the difference is between citizen journalism and journalism. I think the issue really boils down to one point: Does the writer have the qualifications necessary to be considered a journalist? If the answer to this question is no, then it is not journalism; it is citizen journalism. This beyond anything else is what really separates journalism from mere citizen journalism. Everything on the web that has been done by unqualified journalists (citizen journalists) should be considered citizen participation in the journalism process, but it is not true journalism. They are not qualified professionals, regardless of how good their stories may be. If I cook dinner does that make me a chef? If I put a Band-Aid on does that make me a doctor? No. And if I write something news orientated and put it on the web, does that make me a journalist? No, it makes me a citizen journalist.

Now that my perspective is clear, the first thing I have an issue with (in response to the paragraph provided for this blog report) is the way citizen journalism is grouped together with bloggers. Just the mention of that word sets off my bad-writing radar. Even though there are numerous quality blogs on the internet done by excellent writers, there are thousands more that aren’t even worth the space they take up. Grouping these two very different things together provides an unfair bias on citizen journalism. In the future, there needs to be a clear distinction between the two. The next issue I have is with the cheap shot made against the critics of these participatory citizens. Saying that they "clearly don't understand that technology has enabled millions of consumers to shift their focus from passive observation to active participation," is a generalized statement that holds no ground. It's inaccuracy isn't worth another word.

Speaking of accuracy, and I was, accuracy is one of the most important rules in journalism. Journalists have the training and experience necessary to provide the world with fair, balanced journalism. Also, journalists appreciate the consequences for breaking these rules. All those on the web who participate in citizen journalism are not going to be expected to follow these same rules with the meticulous nature journalists are expected to. There are no consequences if they misquote or mislead the public. The only real critics they have are themselves. This is reason that citizen journalism will never be considered an equal with professional journalism.

To continue, I don't really have much to say about the twitter workshop discussion on the future of journalism. For one, it was quite short. Two, it is clear that the internet is going to play a major part in journalism's future. The mass amounts of multi-media allows for a revolution in the news business. However, that doesn’t need to be repeated and discussed to the point of nausea. Third, posting twitter comments that are full of grammatical errors makes my head hurt. And finally, even though citizen journalism is very helpful in the news process, I feel that qualified journalists will always play the biggest role in this industry.

To close, allow it may seem that I have a cynical view on citizen journalism, that couldn't be further from the truth. I see citizen journalism as exciting, provoking, and evolving. People who participate in citizen journalism have many freedoms that journalists aren't privileged with. The freedom to pick your own topics and choose whatever style or diction you want is something not often seen in journalism. Where the problem lies is with those out there who feel they are participating in the journalistic process just because they write something news orientated and post it on the web. An unqualified peasant sitting in mom's basement, posting stories on the true effects of marijuana and video games, is not a journalist. Until we find to filter quality, there will always be a shadow cast on citizen journalism.

Image by Matt Forsythe on flickr