The primary function of citizen
journalism is to get information out to the rest of the public as quickly and
accurately as possible. This is the act of collecting, analyzing and publishing
information and facts, breaking news, and up-dates. It is basically what a
journalist does except it is the general public’s input. This does cause an
issue for the traditional journalist because they have to compete with the
speed of a citizen journalist. In a breaking news event the news company “may
still be scrambling to get their reporters to the scene and find footage of the
events”[1] where an
onsite individual may be recording and publishing what is going on from the
instant it happened. These days the way
people are getting ‘the word’ out is through a website called Twitter. This
site is open to anyone and is used to display statuses, updates and sometimes
pictures.
Twitter is a great way to get fast
information and even connections to similar topics. When using this site there
is something called a hashtag, which will “enable public conversations by
large groups of Twitter users without each participating user needing to
subscribe to the update feeds of all other participants”[2].
Whether it is current news or if it is just general conversation on the topic,
an individual can follow it by using the hashtag. This just increases the speed
to which individuals get information and updates and functions “as an
early warning detection system for breaking news and then delivering a stream
of real-time data as events unfold”[3]. Twitter enables the citizen
journalist to be collective and current. Having all of the public’s input will
allow for all points of view and to hear any arguments or thoughts on the
topic.
I personally have a
twitter account which I use when I have something I want to share. There are a
fair number of people that I follow on Twitter who are constantly updating and
announcing recent events. Most of my posts are personal thoughts and feelings
about something, but nothing that really effects anyone else. This means I am
not a citizen journalist because I am not analyzing and collecting news or main
events that affect everyone. I do follow
individuals and organizations that continuously keep me up to date, example:
CP24, Sportsnet 590, and the Weather Network. Their posts benefit me because it
allows me to stay current and to know what is going on in areas I wouldn’t otherwise
hear about.
“The emergence of Twitter as a
source for breaking news, and the speed at which information is disseminated on
the network, is placing further strain on established journalistic practices”[4]. The
validity and professionalism on Twitter is questionable,
because that isn’t the point of it. The posts on Twitter are not meant to be
professionally written, they are just meant to be quick posts to get other
people ‘in the loop’. It is very easy to post and be heard on Twitter because
of the “underlying
social, organizational, and technological structures [that] make it
exceptionally easy for users to participate in such ambient journalism
processes”[5].
Having this access allows for frequent, current, collaborative posts that open
up the news to a wider perspective.
Overall,
I believe the ease of access to Twitter and the posting of news, events, and
any other public matter means that online citizen journalism will continue to
grow. I don’t believe I will truly be a part of this environment because I
don’t have the time to continuously update my Twitter. I will continue to
follow those who do make these posts and every now and then comment. But I do
not believe I could ever be a true citizen journalist. I don’t believe that the
citizen journalist is taken seriously enough for me to want to become more
involved. In my view, a citizen journalist using Twitter serves an important
function; something like an alarm bell. However, once I have been alerted to a
situation I will tune into a traditional source of journalism to receive a full
and accurate account of what is happening or what has happen.
Hello. I like how you also incorporated the importance and use of hash tags on Twitter. It is the most simple solution for narrowing down the search of any political, social, and environmental event from across the world. Public conversations are a great way to ask questions and receive quick information. Twitter is a great tool that enables citizen journalism to anyone with a profile. I also do not consider myself to participate in citizen journalism in the future, but I will be reading it.
ReplyDeleteHey, I really enjoyed your post - it was informative as well as relatable. I liked the way you defined citizen journalism as a way to get information out as quick and accurately as possible and compared the chance of professional journalism being delayed instead of a citizen journalist already being on scene. A lot of the news I discover does come from Twitter, similarly to you I use it more to see what others are saying but do follow CP24 to keep up to date.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite part of your post was when you mentioned individuals worrying about the reliability of citizen journalism and the point of them is to not be professional. When I see someones post regarding a situation I personally find it more interesting than traditional news coverage but once again to agree with you, I do look to those traditional journalistic sources to attain more info,