Citizen Journalists are
ordinary people who do the work of professional journalists. Citizen journalists
are associated with names such as public journalist, democratic journalism, Participatory
journalists among others. These journalists have the comfort to do the work of
professional journalists due to the introduction of new media; the internet which
has brought with it the social media platform like Facebook, whats app,
twitter, you tube and so on.
The work of a
professional journalist is such that he cannot be everywhere at the same time
to cover events and as a result, citizen journalists with sophisticated phones
at the time of an incident or event can take pictures, video, audio and
disseminate information. Hence act as first hand source of news. Also in
societies where the press is censored, these journalists act as an alternative
source of news.
Social media noted as
the future of communication is a countless array of internet based tools and
platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form
of media makes the transfer of texts, videos, audio, photos and information in
general increasingly fluid among internet users. Platforms like twitter,
Facebook, and linkedin have created online communities where people can share
as much or as little personal information. Social bookmarking tools and news
sites such as Digg, Delici:ous, Reddit and countless others make finding
specific information, images or websites simple by assigning or tasking
individual sites with searchable keywords.
Traditional media also
known as analogue media or mainstream media comes in the form of print (newspapers,
magazines), broadcast (T.V, radio). Grimes(2008) defines the traditional media
as ‘those’ companies which create, produce and distribute information and
entertainment content which pre-date the commercial business of the internet.
He views newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, outdoor advertising, radio and
television stations and broadcast networks as traditional media.
Traditional media can
also be thought of as the old way of doing things. A case in point is sending
mail through the post office and reading newspapers whereas sending email,
reading electronic newspaper articles on the internet, listening to radio via
the internet. Also, the use of mobile phones for taking pictures and sharing
information is an example of new or modern ways of doing things.
However, the invention
of new media i.e. social media has posed a great threat to the traditional
media. The social media has a number of advantages over the traditional media
in the following ways;
First and foremost, the
new media gives immediate gratification and feedback to its audience. Traditional
media does not give its audience the platform to take part in news production.
They are dormant; also they do not have the luxury to choose what segment of
news to listen to, because of this, maximum gratification is not derived. There
is no information flow from audience to the mainstream media thus comments and
opinion. With social media, today audience can choose from a large range of
news categories to listen to or read e.g. sports news, educational news and so
on. Audiences have the opportunity to express opinions on issues and
participate in news production.
Secondly, because
professional journalists follow a certain trend in news reportage (hard news
formula), there is not much of creativity and style like the citizen
journalists makes news interactive and
lively through the use of vodcast and podcast and also comic and other elements
to bring the piece to life making it easy to understand.
Gatekeeping role as
performed by the mainstream media as part of ethics is forgone by citizen
journalists who report to the very core of issues. They do not view any issue
as sensational like the mainstream does before selecting what qualifies as
news. This singular move by citizen journalist with the use of new media is
threatening the work of mainstream journalists and media houses in the
following light.
The fast and quick way
of sending and obtaining news and information from citizen journalists via
social media has led to a low patronage of traditional news outlets especially
the print media. Before these media houses get to the scene of events to cover
and process the news before printing, the citizen journalists would have
captured and shared to a large number of people within a short period of time,
and these audience would not buy a newspaper to read the same news.
Creativity and style
displayed by citizen journalists in their reportage makes audience understand
news better because it is interactive than the ‘hard’ news from the mainstream
media. In addition, due to the gatekeeping role performed by the traditional
media as against the exposure of every detail of news by citizen journalists,
audiences have lost trust in the traditional media.
In view of the threat
caused by the new media, an entrepreneur and author, Andrew Keen is of the
opinion that ‘cult of the amateur’ is undermining great companies who have
consistently created value through impacting quality information and
education’. Keen says ‘we need to fight back to retain the structures and
professions that are in danger of dying out, taking with them concepts such as
quality and trust’.
It comes as no surprise
that a majority of media houses have adopted the ways of the new media in addition
to their traditional ways of doing things. Today during news bulletin,
audiences are given the platform to share their views on issues and report news
around them. For instance, TV3 has a segment in its news called ‘my news’ and
‘viewer comments’, also call-in during radio programs.
Some media houses
resort to citizen journalists in various regions to obtain information or news
especially in those communities or regions they find themselves. This is to get
citizens involved in news process.
Importantly, the use of
ICT infrastructure during news bulletin and programs e.g. laptops and
autoscripts, instead of reading news on sheet of papers, IPADs, LCD television
among others.
Re-structuring of how
news is disseminated with reference to infotainment. This is the combination of
both information and entertainment in news delivery usually associated with
political communication. The use of cartoons in news papers can be an example.
Finally, traditional
media houses have brought their works on-line to reach a larger audience just
like citizen journalists e.g. e-newspapers, listening to radio and news
bulletins on the internet and sending feedbacks. e.g myjoyonline.com which is
news online feed belonging to Joy F.M of Ghana.
Although the work of
professional journalists is at the fore front in battle with the emergence of
powerful voices who used to be the passive audience but now reporting news as
journalists with the use of new media, traditional media as well as
professional journalists are gradually joining the train of the new media to
uphold their position as the 4th estate of the realm and the
powerful mouthpiece of society.
SOURCES/REFERENCES
1. Socialmediatoday- The rise of citizen journalists
2 .Social media defined-
What is Social Media?
3. Tufts.edu/social-media-overview-
What is Social Media?
4. Huffington post- How Social Media is supporting a fundamental
shift in Journalism.
5. New media: theories
and applications, Van Schaik publishers - Traditional
media vrs New Media.
Bridget Dziedzom Atoklo
