This is not the first time I have tackled the journalism vs citizen journalism argument, and it doesn't look like this will be the last time I argue it either. I understand that bloggers and citizen journalists aren't going away, in fact the number of citizen journalists has been increasing and will continue to increase as technology allows the average Joe to emulate their favorite T.V news personalities like Anderson Cooper in the U.S or in Canada, Kevin Newman. But these men have something that no citizen journalist, blogger or Twitter fanatic has: credibility and experience. (Newman has been involved in radio and television news since 1981, landing his first reporter job at Global Ontario. Cooper, while not having any journalistic education background, studied at Yale and got his first taste of journalism while reporting in Vietnam in 1999.)
Fast forward to today where citizens are on the other end of the news spectrum. They were at once receiving the news, now they are reporting it. Most do not have experience or training. Most do not collect paychecks. Without a formal education it is questionable whether they follow the strict guidelines payed journalists must follow. Fact checking, Libel/slander, plagiarization, these are the things that if not payed attention to can cost a journalist their job. What happens when a citizen journalist or a blogger makes these mistakes? Do they get fired? From where? Some Bloggers don't use their real names or choose to remain anonymous. If you're not adhering to the same rules and standards as the professionals with whom you're competing against, why should I listen to you? Why should I trust you?
Case and point. February 18th, 2010. Word escaped that Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot had died. The news was traced back to a post made on Twitter, which was actually posted in response to a phone call the user received from the original "leaker". CanNews picked this up and reported as fact. As did several other Canadian online news sites. Lightfoot heard the news and phoned into a Toronto radio station to confirm that he was in fact, still breathing. This is embarrassing. But for both parties. News agencies were duped by what who now being called a "prankster" on Twitter. These agencies should have done a better job fact checking but in order to compete with the speed and demand in the online news world they ran it anyway. That's their mistake. But they're the ones who apologized. They're the ones who took the fall and they weren't the only ones reporting it either. Blogs were circulating all over the country saying that Lightfood had died. Where's their public apology? Is their reputation tarnished? Even if they did apologize, would you care?
So who's to blame here? The case mentioned above is one example of how easily news and facts can be distorted through technology. It looks as as if the blame should squarely go the shoulders of the news agencies that reported this debauchery. But if not for Citizen Journalists, Bloggers and those supporting them insisting that they're in fact credible sources, than news agencies would not think twice about using Twitter as a source. Its a social networking site is not? I understand how it could be used as a medium to disperse current events but look where that got us. Bloggers and Citizen Journalists can be used as effective tools to help and assist in the process of news gathering but they should not be solely relied upon as actual credible journalists.
If I have a leaky drain or faucet, do I call up a buddy who's a self professed handyman? Or do I call a Journeyman Plumber? What if I need some wiring done to my basement? Or My furnace breaks down? Am I gonna pay amateurs or even apprentices to tackle these jobs? No! Nine times out of ten a person will rely on and pay for the expertise of a Journeyman. This brings me to the central point. Online news is free. It costs nothing. It is unregulated. Hence, anybody can contribute. Citizen Journalists and Bloggers have watered down the industry and flooded it with equally ambitious but inexperienced writers. Who cares about "self-expression" when it comes to the news? Facts, facts, facts. That's all I want.
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