NDM News: Citizen Journalism

• Examples

Rodney King assaulted by police, 1992
Asian Tsunami, December 26 2004 
London Bombings, July 5 2005
Hudson Plane Crash, January 15 2009
Mumbai Bombings, 2008

• Theory (audience reception etc.) 

• Benefits to institutions

With fewer trained journalists, institutions can cut costs thus possibly increasing profits.

Institutions are able to get 'bigger' stories which will therefore increase the number of views on their service thus increasing revenue. 

• Benefits to audience 

As news such as the London Bombings was reported first-hand by survivors, it makes the story more 'hard-hitting and emotive'. 

• Wider issues and debates

The lack of gatekeeping and professional journalism because of the rise in USG could affect the standard of news because the cut in trained journalists would mean that institutions relying more heavily on citizen journalism.

If there isn't a mediator there is a risk of racist or other hate-filled content taking dominance. 

• SHEP

Next, answer the following questions in the same blogpost:

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’? Based on public citizen playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting and analysing news as well as news information. 

2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’? The first examples of news generated by ordinary people was in the case of Rodney King in 1992. George Holiday got 4 police officers on video surrounding him and beating him which lead to international coverage and social unrest. 

3) List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations. Message boards, chatrooms, Q&A, polls, blogs with comments section. 

4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)? The main difference between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand is the level of authenticity both footage holds. With professionally shot footage, the footage is certainly not a hoax whereas with user generated content, the footage could be misleading.  

5) What is a gatekeeper? The gatekeeping role is used to dictate the newsworthiness of an event in terms of importance and validity. 

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed? The role of the gatekeeper has changed because majority of online articles aren't subject to proofreading and gatekeeping thus compromising the trustworthiness and reliability of information posted online. 

7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC? The possible loss of jobs because of a smaller core staff who manage and process USG from citizen journalists. Some even say that mediators and moderators will even eventually disappear too. 

Finally, consider the following questions and answer each bullet point in the same blogpost:

What impact is new/digital media having on the following:

• news stories

With the rise in user generated content with the advance in new/digital media, the standard of news will certainly drop. This 

• the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)

With the advances in new/digital media, citizen journalists are able to influence the news agenda, this was seen in London Bombings, 2005, because no-one was closer to the events than the survivors with footage on their mobile phones. 

• the role of professionals in news

The role of professionals will become more insignificant because it is predicted that in the future, there will be fewer permanent trained staff at news organisations. Also, with the few journalists left in the industry, it would make the practice of journalism more exceptional.