The Blog Picture: Influence of citizen journalism

The global media market is dominated by roughly nine or ten TNC’s: General Electric, Disney, Sony, News Corp., Viacom, Seagram etc. However, with the advent of social media and blogging, the role of the citizen journalist is becoming more valuable than ever. They have the opportunity to present a unique perspective — to breathe fresh air into a society herded by mainstream media. 

The personal blog is becoming influential.

The citizen journalist provides invaluable information that can democratize media, as well as nations. For instance, the arrest of 29-year-old Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah of Manalaa.net prompted Cairo activists to demand his release. 

Working with 14 other clandestine reporters in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, citizen journalist Ryan Boyette and his colleagues have been documenting Sudanese government atrocities by gathering testimonies, photos and video from survivors and eyewitnesses. The team often includes GPS coordinates that locate the attacks, which they transmit to organizations like the Enough Project and Satellite Sentinel Project via solar-powered laptops and satellite phones.

When asked about his work, Boyette communicated his frustration with the lack of global attention the Sudanese crisis had been receiving. The Enough Project explains, “Boyette said he was translating the testimony of an elderly man who had fled the fighting when he realized he needed to bring the stories directly to influential people in the United States.”

These citizen journalists fight to create a well-informed public in which media also serves as moral education. This philosophy radically departs from mainstream journalism, an overarching goal of which is to sell its product. Citizen journalism, on the other hand, allows marginalized people to reclaim their voices, to tell their otherwise silenced stories firsthand.

Allan and Thorsten (2009) describe citizen journalism as being based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. Information that may or may be passed over by mainstream media, in turn providing scope for more balanced view on local, national and international issues.

Another great example of citizen journalism and the power of the personal blog can be seen with the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements were we’ve realized the ability of digital media to democratize. Blogs, Twitter and mobile technology have allowed citizen journalists to more effectively broadcast the consequences of a repressive Iranian regime – even when major news outlets were blocked. And user-generated images of Abu Ghraib prison allowed a wider public to view immediate content in the palm of its hand. 

traditional newsrooms become more constrained by time and resources, the advent of user-generated content on the web can only strengthen journalism. For example, media offshoots like BBC’s User-Generated Content Hub, Reuter’s partnership with blogging network Global Voices, and sites like PJ Media can significantly lower operating costs. On Reuters’ Africa website, bloggers contribute first-hand perspectives, giving Africans a chance to speak for themselves through a blog linked directly with a mainstream media network. 

However, there’s always the question whether networked journalism will eventually eliminate the role of the practiced journalist. In that case, consider a certification process that would maintain ethical standards of practice and promote self-regulation, net neutrality and accuracy.

The main takeaway is that citizen journalist’s act as another check and balance to the mainstream press. 

The ultimate question is: How will global media handle this change? 

In my opinion, personal blogs and citizen journalism may contribute to the reformation of the global public sphere by connecting with the world beyond the newsroom, and transforming the power relationship between media and the public.

Ref:

Allan S., Thorsen E. 1999, Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives, Peter Lang Publishing, London

Web/Blog links:

http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2012/09/08/note-from-american-ryan-boyette-in-sudan-south-sudan-nuba-mountain-region/