As we discovered in my last blog, the 21st century has marked a turning point in the nature of journalism. As technology continues to shift the boundaries of what journalism is and who does it, the role of the citizen in the disseminating of news has undergone some significant changes.
As Allan Stuart states, “the ‘news’ of some description has been in circulation since the earliest days of human communities” (Stuart 2010 pg. 1). As members of individual and collective communities, people have always wanted to know what’s going on in the world around them, to learn about the people and events that make their society tic. This desire for news seems to be an intrinsic human trait that has remained unchanged throughout the centuries. The news exists to inform society and the citizens within it, but who uncovers the news? From society’s need for information, there stems the need for those who are willing and able to discover, investigate and communicate newsworthy events.
Historically, journalists have been known for their ability to sniff out a story. I’m sure that we can all picture the Romantic image of a journalist; someone out on the beat interviewing, searching for leads and uncovering major scoops or scandals before they go public. As Hamilton and Lawrence state, “professional journalism...is rooted in the concept of reporters going out into the world seeking information” (Hamilton and Lawrence 2010 pg. 1). And yet, there is more to journalism than the ability to interview and uncover stories. So, what really makes a journalist? According to the Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance’s (MEAA) code of ethics, a journalist adheres to the principles of honesty, fairness and independence. They “describe society to itself…convey information…inform citizens and animate democracy” (MEAA). So from this definition of a journalist, we can see that it is a journalist’s role to honestly uncover and convey information to inform citizens.
And what is the role of the citizen in all of this? In the past, the citizen’s role was chiefly a one-way affair. That is, it was their role to purchase the newspaper, tune into a radio broadcast or turn on television news. They rarely, if ever, constructed and communicated their own news stories. However, with the emergence of new media and the rise of social networking sites such as Twitter, audiences no longer exist solely to be informed. Technology has allowed the citizen to play a participatory role in news, where publishing news is as simple as clicking a button.
The above video, taken of looters during the recent London riots, was filmed and uploaded to Youtube, not by professional journalists, but by everyday citizens. The footage may be amateur at best, filmed on a camera phone, yet it still provides us with images of the riots as they were happening. This type of footage is generally beyond the reach of the traditional media, who often take up these images and use them to form their own news of the event. For instance, I first saw this footage on Channel Ten news.
A tag on the video reads: “Share this around, someone [sic] people will know who these scum are and help them get caught!!” This action sees the citizen journalist informing the public, even motivating them into action. Is this not the role of the traditional journalist? The man in this video has since been caught and, without this footage, the crime may have passed under the radar.
But is this really news? Many professional journalists often view citizen journalists with disdain, although there can be no denying that they can provide the world with powerful images of events that the traditional media may miss. Whether these citizen journalists are credible, ethical and accountable is another matter entirely. Similarly, whether this can be classed as journalism at all is a matter of intense debate.
Informing society is the bedrock of journalism and, historically, it has been the role of the citizen to be informed. Yet technology is transforming the symbiotic relationship between the journalist and the citizen, placing the power of news making and disseminating in the hands of the citizen. Whatever your stance on citizen journalism may be, there can be no doubting that the number of citizen journalists will continue to increase as more people embrace the freedom that technology has given them
References:
Hamilton, M (2010). Bridging Past and Future. Journalism Studies, vol. 1 no. 5. Accessed 15/8/11.
Media, Entertainment and Art Alliance (nd). Code of Ethics. Accessed 12/8/11 <http://www.alliance.org.au/code-of-ethics.html>
Stuart, A (2010). News Culture. OUP, London. Accessed 14/8/11.
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