The day that changed everything: how heartbreak, loss and frustration have changed me

 I never thought I'd be here...33 years old, living back at my parent's house, going through a messy divorce, dealing with custody issues, questioning my career path, and back on dating apps to help quench my loneliness. This seems like one of those things that happens to "other" people, but not me. Other people go through horror stories, other people go through these terrible circumstances...not me. But trying to fight it won't help. It hasn't helped. There's no explaining what happened because it's not rational. Every person I talk to about this can't make sense of it. So I've stopped trying. I'm just over a month removed from the "incident", and here's what happened and what I've learned:

One month ago things were "okay". I wouldn't say great, but I certainly wouldn't say bad. My wife and I had recently moved down to Florida with our two young kids, and though my day-to-day was relatively similar, hers was not. Removed from her network of female family members, she was feeling disconnected and homesick. We spoke of this regularly and both know it would be an adjustment. We had the usual fights that couples do...she said one thing and expected me to know she really meant something else, I didn't get the message and then she'd get upset. Classic. Or she'd have "priorities" for me, and without knowing how urgent/important these things were to her (like hanging curtains), I wouldn't do them right away. And since I wouldn't hear anything about it I would assume it wasn't a big deal. Little did I know that underneath the calm façade was a bomb waiting to explode. And this was typical. I would think everything was fine, while in her mind she would ruminate on an issue, make it 10x larger in her mind, and finally, weeks later it would come out as a major issue and lead to a massive fight. All the while I thought things with okay. So we had a few of these fights in October, but it seemed like the norm. At least to me it did. I was trying, I really was. I have been working with a coach who helps me on relationships, communication and leadership, in addition to reading books and listening to audiobooks on relationships and marriage. Having two kids together made me even more motivated to keep things strong...for the family. I never wanted to have a "broken" home for our kids. I wanted a home filled with love, connection, unity and togetherness. But I guess in her mind that was a lost cause. 

On October 26, 2022 I received a text message from my wife around 9am, shortly after I had gone up to my home office to begin work. She said she was taking the kids to the playground. Totally normal, I thought, as she does this a few times a week. Then I receive another text from her saying that she sent me an email and suggests I read it before 10am so things are "less confusing" when they get back. I check my email...even thinking of it now makes my heart rate speed up...and it begins with "this is one of the hardest letters I've ever had to write". Uh oh...here we go. She goes on to say how there are issues in our marriage, and have been for a while. She feels unheard, dismissed, disrespected and like she's on a path she doesn't want to go down. She says the issues are not fixable. Then she cuts to the chase...she wants a divorce and is taking the kids THAT DAY back to New York. WTF?!? My mind runs wild...is she serious? No warnings whatsoever? No discussions about this? Just a freaking email? After 8 years of being together, and 5 years of marriage. You've got to be kidding me. I race to finish the email, but at this point I can barely read. I call her, no answer. I text her saying we need to talk now, and she says "why?", shortly followed by "everything I have to say to you I said in the email". Again...are you kidding me? I call, I text, I call, I text...nothing. In her email she said that "none of this is open to discussion" and that all our of communication moving forward will be "via text or email". WTF?!? Heart racing, a million thoughts going through my mind, panic, overwhelm, fear, anger, confusion...nothing good. I'm alone...in this big house in Florida, I don't know where my wife and kids are, and I don't know what to do. I call my mom and attempt to explain what happened while holding back tears...unsuccessfully. She is, understandably, appalled and confused. I have no words. I have no explanation. This was totally out of nowhere. Never had my wife and I discussed divorce, her wanting to move back to NY, her being unhappy or having major issues with our relationship...but I guess she was running her play...let it build up inside, then do something major. The "major" thing had just never been to this level before. Not even close. 

About 90 minutes later she showed up with her parents and a uhaul. Her parents had driven down from NY, which is at least an 18 hour drive, so this was planned in advance. I try to remain calm, trying to talk with her to see if we can work this out. I'm not done. I'm not giving up. No way I'm letting this go. She refuses to talk to me. I plead. Her dad is standing right there, I ask him to leave so I can have a private conversation with my wife. He asks her if it's okay, and she says "one minute". Again...seriously?!? Eight years, and you give me ONE MINUTE of conversation on a life changing decision like this? All I get from her is contempt, stonewalling and rigidity. She does her classic over-the-top hurtful statements like she does during any fight that's being going on in her mind for weeks, but only comes out at the very end to me. She says she doesn't love me anymore, and hasn't for four years. She says she sees no way things could ever get better, and that I'd need to be a totally different person. She says she's not open to talking about it. I try to understand what's going on, but she won't discuss it further. All of this makes no sense...there was never any violence, threats, hard drug use, adultery or anything...I wasn't the perfect husband, but I was far from being the type of person that deserved this treatment. At this point it was clear...her mind was made up. I didn't know what to do, but I did the one thing that represented what was most important to me...I spent every last second I could with my kids while they were there. Over the next hour or so, my wife and her parents packed up all of her and the kids' things into their uhaul and SUV. Everything...toys, books, clothing, shoes, hats, cups...everything. This 3,200 square foot house was now filled with empty rooms and painful memories. As they got ready to go I hugged and kissed my kids and told them I loved them so much. They didn't know what was happening...my daughter is 4 and my son is 2. Who knows what my wife told them. She certainly didn't give me any time to prepare for this conversation. So just like that...they were gone. This moment...right then...was the most painful moment of my life. My life as I knew it was done. My wife was gone, my kids were gone, I was left in a big house in a state that had nothing left for me. I was alone. Completely and totally alone. I broke down. Even now just thinking about it I'm fighting back tears. The pain, the cruelty, the inhumanity, the loss...I couldn't take it. All systems shut down. This house was the last place I wanted to be in the entire world. Empty bedrooms, missing toys, empty closets, missing family. 

I booked the first flight to NY I could, which was a couple hours later. I packed a few essentials and left. Not knowing when I'd be back. I couldn't be there anymore, and I had to see my kids when they arrived in NY. My mom picked me up at the airport, and we didn't say much on the ride home. I was afraid to speak. I was afraid of what was happening, what might happen, and of completely losing control of my emotions. I didn't know at this point whether to be angry, sad, confused, hurt, disappointed, motivated (to fight), or what...I didn't know what was right. When we got to their home and got out of the car she hugged me and I lost it...the hurt and shock I had been holding back while on the plane and in the car all came out in that moment. Even thinking of it now I struggle with the intense emotion I was feeling. But I didn't have time to sit and process these feelings, I had action to take. Who knew what my wife was doing? Trying to access my money? Calling attorneys? Making up stories to her parents about why this drastic action was justifiable. I went back and forth between a sense of total shock and anger, and feeling that I had to try to resolve things. For the next few days I worked to understand what she was going through and what brought her to this point, but she barely responded, or if she did it was just angry, irrational, cruel words filled with contempt and unwavering rigidity. Having a conversation about our relationship to fix things? Out of the question. Creating a reasonable schedule for me to see the kids while I was in town? Apparently I didn't deserve it. A switch had flipped. The person I had known for 8 years was gone. A monster had taken her place. 

I was home in NY for four days...she "let" me see the kids for a total of 5 hours. It was clear that she had no intentions of being reasonable, having a rational conversation, trying to work on things, or most importantly, doing what's best for the kids. She took them from me, without my consent, without any notice, and moved 18 hours and 1,200 miles away. She took them from their father who they saw every single day, claiming that she "has every right" to do what she did. Well...it seems that New York State will feel differently about her actions. We'll know more in a few days, as we're going in front of a judge to discuss the matter of a temporary custody and residency schedule. The monster that she has become is further fueled by her mother. The mother who couldn't even have a conversation when she was told we were moving to Florida. The mother who gets her enjoyment by being the "rescuer" of others...enabling them, keeping them weak so she can feel useful and strong. At every turn my wife rejected my attempts at creating a reasonable schedule for the kids and I. More cruelty, more self-serving behavior...no concern for what's actually best for this kids. The person I had known for 8 years...gone. I couldn't trust this new person. They were dangerous and irrational. So I had no choice...I had to get the law involved. 

Every day I have to practice extreme patience. Every day I have multiple opportunities to "rip her a new a****le", so they say. Just when I think she's expressing a sense of reasonable behavior...BOOM...another totally ridiculous and irrational action. So I've stopped trying to make sense of it, because it doesn't make sense. She's created such a narrative in her mind that she has no choice but to continue to story, else she go crazy with guilt. In the absence of facts our minds create reasons for things. We "confabulate" stories, facts and reasons to support or arguments or actions. It seems, however, that the judge has not been swayed by her arguments. In the most recent round of legal documents, the judge crossed out every one of her "demands". I'm thankful that I have a great attorney, who has put together a compelling case showing that mothers have done far less than my wife and ended up losing custody and residency, which went to the father. She moved my children 1,200 miles from me. There are cases where a mother moved her children only 90 minutes from their father, which the judge saw as a clear act of unwillingness to co-parent or foster a relationship between the children and other parent, resulting in the father getting full custody and residency of the children. So that's our goal now. My wife clearly isn't doing what's best for the kids. She wants me to see them every Wednesday and every other weekend. When they've seen me literally every day of their lives (except for the occasional work travel). If I am granted full custody and residency I would still foster a relationship between my kids and their mom. I would never take that from them. But at this point, I cannot trust that she will d what's best for them. 

Oddly enough, her actions have almost made it easier to get over the loss of our marriage. I feel like the woman I loved is dead. I see no traces of her. So now I am left figuring out what's next...what will happen with the kids, what my new routine looks like, where I'll be living (I love my parents, but I don't want to live with them), what healing looks like, and what any future relationships look like. I've had to practice patience, love, and emotional control more than ever in my life. One of us has to be rational. One of us has to do what's best for the kids. She's shown she isn't willing to do that, so it's gotta be me. I am so thankful for the love and support shown to me by my family, friends and coworkers. I don't know what phase of healing I'm in...every day feels a little different. I do have hope. Though I mourn for things I have lost...all of the future memories we will never create, and all of the past memories that are now tainted, I have faith that through this I can grow my relationship with my kids, grow as a person, and ultimately find someone to be with who I can love and rely on. Time will tell what will be the ultimate outcome, but I'm determined to come out of this a better father and a better man. 

January 2, I finished my life license. No more studying. I am determined not to get bound up in the house for any reason. I got an 82 Iin the exam. Very disappointed but I passed. I kept saying I would get out on three town and do things for me. So km the spirit if self discovery, I kept to my promise. It was a difficult decision today. We got a Nor-Easter today, foot of snow. I feel in the drive easy when i got home from the test. i was in a lot of pain so devices at the gym just to do the bike. I read Celestine prophecy and pedaled for 20 minutes. Came home when my knee starred to ach. I had asperegus, belka top and a salad for dinner. Floored by popcorn, and chocolate. But attest i did something under this pain. I took care if all the laundry today as well. :)

A Word on Word

Hello MGN bloggers, I hope you're all busy working on the final project. This has been a very interesting and intensive class. I meant to post this last night, I'm not sure how many check the blog on the weekend. I wanted to share some insights on Microsoft Word, the program we're submitting our papers in. I've never been a fan of Microsoft products but, after working in it for this class, have a new respect. Maybe all of you are familiar with the various aspects of this program, but if there's anyone else out there like me, there are some features that will make it easier to format and write this paper.

This is a word processing program so there are obviously formatting options built in for type style, variation, line spacing, and indenting. This has built in style sheets that you can change too depending on what part of the paper you're working on. The Help tab is actually pretty good at explaining what, where and how to use the features.

One of the best time savers is Word's Document Elements tabs where you can automatically insert Table of Contents, Headers, Footers and Bibliographies. You can create a Citation (it's in the Toolbox on the menu bar), choose what citation style you'd like to use (MLA, APA), click on the Plus sign to create a new source, set your type of source (Book, report, web site, film, etc.) and the fields will show up to tell you what is recommended for this particular source. You just type in all the info, click OK and your citation will show up in the Citations list. You can format the citations with an exact style (hanging indents, type style, etc.) and then at the end, just click on the Document Elements to create a Bibliography with your listed citations. You will need to then go into the Bibliography and annotate them.

These features have saved me quite a bit of time and they keep your document, citations and formatting consistent and looking good.

It is good sometimes to get out of your comfort zones. Good luck with your papers!

Traditional Versus Cyber Media

In this modern era, it is easy to think that everything is easily replaceable. Longevity seems to elude almost everything. In just the past fifteen years, the most popular medium for watching movies at home has gone from VHS, to DVD, to Blu-Ray, to 3D. Cassettes were replaced with CDs which were replaced with iPods. Magazines are folding faster across the board. In such an environment, smart money would say that yes, everything will soon be replaced. And yet, while I may eat my words if someone shows me this in another fifteen years, traditional media could never really be replaced by cyber media.

Cyber media has become a very important tool in recent years, drawing attention to issues that the traditional media couldn't touch. Such was the case in Iran recently, where citizen journalists have been the only source of news of the political unrest, as journalists were too heavily censored[1]. Thanks to citizen journalists with camera phones, we are provided with plenty of footage of peaceful demonstrations and the brutality inflicted by Iranian officials.

But in that same example of the videos coming out of Iran, we see the problem with cyber journalism. While the videos collected are incredibly important, they're blurry, hard to follow, unorganized, and often lack almost any clear facts in terms of clear figures, times, names, etc. This is often also the problem with Blogs. They're typically tailored to a much smaller audience than the mainstream media[2]. Thus, it's easy for them to be much more extreme. In addition, they're held to a lesser standard that traditional media. While traditional media is far from perfect when it comes to reporting facts instead of fiction, blogs are usually even worse, being unmonitored and ungoverned. Most blogs are simply passionate people saying what they believe[3].

Despite the faults of cyber media and citizen journalism, their usefulness in bring to light issues otherwise ignored or off limits cannot be denied. Because of this, many traditional media outlets have begun incorporating elements of cyber media and citizen journalism into their framework, with "I-reporting" segments and hosting their own blogs[4].

A yahoo with a camera phone or someone with too much time on their hands and a blog will never be a substitute for a real journalist. As time goes on the value of cyber journalism becomes more and more apparent, and cyber journalism will continue to grow. But it could never really replace the traditional established media, due to it's slow, clunky, inaccurate nature.

[1] For Neda: English. Directed by Antony Thomas. Youtube.com, 2010. Web.

[2] Valeriu, Dornescu Ioan. "The Relation Between Blogging and Mass Media". International Conference on Virtual Learning. Vol. 1 (2006), 4. Web.

[3] Gill, Kathy E. "How Can We Measure the Influence of the Blogosphere?". Department of Communications, Washington University. (2004), 4. Web.

[4] Valeriu, Dornescu Ioan. "The Relation Between Blogging and Mass Media". International Conference on Virtual Learning. Vol. 1 (2006), 6. Web.

Citizen journalism or middle-class citizen journalism?

“It is a privileged position to be able to reflect on what is happening around you. Most people are just having to live it.” - Susan Fleischmann, The Executive director Cambridge Community Television[1].

During my four week stay in Lira district in Northern Uganda last summer, I heard the most horrific and shocking stories of brutality from children, teenagers and young mothers who were previously abducted by the LRA[2] rebels. As a strong proponent for social justice and human rights, I see citizen journalism as a truly empowering tool and a ray of hope. However, amidst all its strengths, lies its biggest imperfection. The most disenfranchised in this imperfect world are often people without access to a printing press, a camera or the internet; the main tools of citizen journalism.

If only that 14 year old could tell the world how raw her heart is from watching her family being hacked to death and all the years of rape and abuse her little premature body suffered, I bet the world would listen. Or if the world had looked into that young girl’s eyes as she recounted the day some of her friends who were too tired to walk, or those who had tried to resist being raped again, were hacked to death, cooked and fed to the rest[3]; I bet the world would have listened. Even though I didn’t understand her language, her labored facial expressions spoke directly to me in clearer words than the translator could muster. If only she had had a camera phone on that fateful day or the UN peace keepers had been able to get a clue from a panicky ‘twit’ from one of the teenagers. In such a world, sans newspapers, TVs, internet and the blogosphere, citizen journalism can only ‘come’ to the people[4]. In the words of Jakana Stucky, a fellow blogger; Citizen journalism is indeed "a predominantly middle class culture"[5].

Ironically, although I grew up in Uganda, the closest I got to any accurate picture of the civil war in Northern Uganda was from four formerly abducted children that came to speak at my church. My American friends were surprised that I was almost as shocked by the content of “The Invisible children” documentary as they were. But again, it’s not surprising because dictatorships always have a firm grip on what makes the news and “nosy” journalists have a really high mortality rate in Uganda[6].

Despite the limitations of citizen journalism, “The Invisible children” documentary is evidence that it can done anywhere as long as there is someone at that time and in that place, that is ably equipped to share their story. Unlike the traditional journalists and media houses that may be barred or bound by censorship, citizen journalism follows the pulse of the citizens, covering that which they care about and want to be heard. Victoria Grand, the Head of Communications & Policy at YouTube compared phone cameras to swords, in reference to the camera wielding protesters on the streets of Tehran following President Ahmadinejad’s 2009 ‘election’. In the face of bullets and the brutal police, the protesters were armed with cameras instead. Neda’s death wasn’t caught on tape by a media house. It was the video clips from cell phone cameras that rallied an international effort to speak truth to power in Iran. Her steady gaze into the camera in her last minutes spoke more volumes than the most eloquent pinstripe-suited anchor on any media channel.

Citizen journalism is a truly empowering tool gifted upon us by technology and the advent of the internet. It gives regular middle class citizens the rare opportunity to voice their opinions, share stories or rally support for causes they care about. Over the years, citizen journalism has evolved from pamphlets to video blogs, iReports, YouTube videos and Twitter updates. The ultimate power of citizen journalism lies in the fact that the citizens can participate in authoring the content of the news.

If only the people of Northern Uganda had cell phone cameras the day the LRA rebels massacred 121 at Balonyo in the most brutal and inhumane manner. Or perhaps the images of the people whose lips and ears had just been cut off by the LRA rebels would have caught the world’s attention like in Neda's case. May be the intrinsic kindness of humanity would have been evoked in solidarity to draw international attention to northern Uganda and pressure the Ugandan government to do more to protect the helpless, especially the children. With Uganda's general election coming up in a month’s time, I can only hope that the middle class citizens rise up to the occasion and head out armed with their camera phones and blackberries, ready to report live at the scene of any injustice.

If only there was an avenue for those below the middle class to participate in this discourse in real time too.

---

[1] This was a comment Susan Fleischmann, The Executive director Cambridge Community Television made about citizen journalist in a YouTube video, “Citizen Journalism, What is it?”, 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58iZpMRclwI Web. Jan 20, 2011

[2] The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by Joseph Kony, are the pertuators of the 24 year old civil war in Northern Uganda that has resulted in the abductution of over 80,000 children and internally displaced people by the millions since the rebels took to the Bush in 1986.This is particularly close to my heart because I grew up in the Capital city(Kampala) which is only 6 hours by bus from the site of these atrocities. I consider myself lucky because it could have been me with 3 children at 16.

[3] This is a short clip on my time in Uganda.http://www2.binghamton.edu/ar/being-transformed-by-transforming-lives.html Web. Jan 20, 2011

[4] Like the three American film students from Southern Carlifornia that decided to go to Africa in search of a story in spring 2003, only to end up becoming an international voice for the child soldiers in Northern Uganda. They have since created a not-for-profit organisation called ‚‘‘The Invisible Children‘‘, named after the documentary they made on their maiden trip. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/undefined. Web. Jan 20, 2011

[5] This was further elaborated by Jakana Stucky in the YouTube clip“Citizen Journalism,What is it?”, 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58iZpMRclwI Web. Jan 20, 2011

Jakana Stucky is also an author and avid blogger(http://www.blogger.com/profile/07909018947379157942) Web. Jan 20, 2011.

[6] http://www.demotix.com/welcome:

. http://www.demotix.com/news/562702/journalists-injured-uganda-presidential-campaign

Web. Jan 20, 2011.

I was pleased to come across this website. Its all about citizen journalism and they also had images and news from election related violence towards journalists in Uganda(second link). There are images from Uganda that wouldnt appear in any news paper because of the governement’s censorship of the news.

Discussion: A world without ''traditional media'', , Social network dynamics within a “productive” global narrative vs an un productive event

Discussion: A world without “traditional” media?

“People lack many things: jobs, shelter, food, healthcare and drinkable water. Today, being cut off from basic telecommunications services is a hardship almost as acute as these other deprivations, and may indeed reduce the chances of finding remedies to them.” - Kofi Anan.[1]

As such is the world as it is today. With more increases in technological advances, the digital divide between the developing world and the post industrial economies increases[2]. Despite the omnipresence of the internet, many developing countries dont have the infrastructure in place to embrace the more popular options cyberia offers as substitutes to “traditional” media. In such communities, there is still a long way to go before online newspapers, blogs and other atypical news sources can take root. Even in the post industrial economies, access to the internet is still a social stratifying factor. Until there is more homogeneity in access to internet around the world, traditional media like TV, Radios and newspapers will be around for a long time.

Discussion: Social network dynamics within a “productive” global narrative vs an un productive event/issue.

The Oxford dictionary definition of the term “productive” is: “achieving or producing a significant amount or result”, and that is the context in which it is applied in this discussion. Like the law in a democracy, I believe that the strength of a comprehensive definition lies in its objectivity. [3] Despite what I think of Lady Gaga’s eccentric style as an example of an unproductive media event, her style, along with the rest of the celebrity culture world has become an increasingly common media experience that clamors for our attention, just like the productive media events. Thankfully, news on such unproductive events doesn’t usually propagate into global discourse like the international response to a narrative like Neda’s murder[4]. I am yet to see the day’s news disrupted by 'breaking news' on what Lady Gaga is wearing. God forbid the world ever pays such media events anymore attention that they are getting now. Perhaps there will be less people releasing sex tapes as a get-famous-quick ploy, or making money off not-so-glossy topics like teenage pregnancy[5] if such media events didn't gun so much attention. Nevertheless, the strength of the definition of a media event as stated by Hepp and Couldry definitely lies in its objective nature.

---

[1] Norris, Pippa: Information Poverty and the Wired World. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Volume 5, Number 3, Summer 2000. Pages 2

[2] Norris, Pippa: Information Poverty and the Wired World. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Volume 5, Number 3, Summer 2000. Pages 2-3.

USA, France, England, Germany are examples of the post industrial economies being referenced here.

[3] This point was beautifully relayed by Cindy B, on January 14^th, 2011 as a comment on my blog entry titled “What is a media event”. Cindy also cites the three mediations of a media event as suggested by Hepp and Couldry which validate celebrity culture as a media event.

Archive: http://mediatheglobalnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/01/reception-of-media-events-depicting.html Web. Jan 20th 2011.

[4]Thomas, Anthony: For Neda, 2010. HB0 Documentary.

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/for-neda/synopsis.html Web. Jan 20th 2011.

[5] Even if you don’t watch the show on teenage mums, these young girls have been propped into the lime light by glossy paged magazines in any grocery store and gas station in America. It’s a topic that many adults are so opinionated about but one can only wonder what message the teenage girls might be taking from the fame of these teenage mothers.

Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism allows people whom are untrained in journalism, to express their thoughts and ideas on local news and happenings around the world. This type of journalism may include regularly-updated blogs or even YouTube videos. The trained journalists often see the citizen journalists as amateurs, though many of those properly trained continue to maintain blogs of their own (Glaser).

One very common problem within citizen journalism is the ability for fake information to be spread throughout the internet. A gateway for fake information seems to be the Wikipedia news site, where anyone can post or edit the news stories (Outing). This type of news site seems to be a work in progress, with attempts to balance out the act of allowing citizen journalism while still maintaining the truth. Steve Outing mentions the potentials for news such as obituaries where friends an family may edit, but what happens when this ability falls into the wrong hands?

When comparing CyberMedia against traditional media, the ideas of paper news paper versus online version comes into play. With the daily (paper) newspaper, readers expect the articles to include facts. Newspapers are full of articles researched and written by trained journalists, while CyberMedia may include these same articles as well as articles by citizen journalists. CyberMedia and traditional media are both give and take systems for the reader: take the facts and wait until the paper is printed, versus searching through the opinions and ideas but have the ability to read updated news 24/7.

A world without traditional media does not seem very far-fetched. Although I personally would rather read an actual newspaper, nine times out of ten it is just not feasible for me. CyberMedia allows for readers to find the news when they're free to do so, often without a charge. Why pay $1.00 for a newspaper when one can read the same articles for free online and save a tree or two? Though I can imagine no longer having newspapers, the idea of no more news channels on television or radio seems frightening. If there were a disaster, the television and radio are common places to turn for news and information.



Glaser, Mark. "Your Guide to Citizen Journalism." PBS Online. 27 Sept. 2006. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Outing, Steve. "The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism." The Poynter Institute. 31 May. 2005. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.

Citzen Journalism and Traditional journalism

Citizen journalism can be looked at people participating in or reporting the news. In this day and age this is made easy because of all of the outlets people have. If people have a cell phone with text messaging or the internet they can participate in citizen journalism. So many people in the world now have a cell phone (or two) that they can take pictures and send to each other. With the internet on phones now becoming a growing necessity with many people. Now with all of the things that are offered with phones people are able to communicate with each other twenty-four hours of the day seven days a week. This also makes it possible to keep track of everything that happens in their lives, and the lives of others. People can document the happenings in every day because of all of the technology that is available to them, whereas years ago people had to write things down on paper and document things that way, which is called traditional journalism.

Citizen journalism as stated above could be anything that is documented and released to the world or any amount of people for that matter. With the creation of cell phones and the capabilities they have citizen journalism has become easier over the years, which also means that the growth of the citizen journalism industry is growing as well and traditional journalism is decreasing. This is good for some people but bad for the majority of the major journalism places. In today’s society people have to fight to get the news out first. Many newspapers or television stations compete to be the first to report something, though it is becoming a struggle with all of the people reporting it from their cell phones. People can record a video on their phone and send it out in an email or post it online and that would be reporting it, which means it is citizen journalism. Though the regular people that are posting videos or stories online via phone won’t necessarily get the validity that the news stations get; when people watch the news or read the paper they are reading it because it is a valid source. Whereas when people read things posted by other people online they may question whether or not it is valid, and this would create one con for citizen journalism.
There are many pros for citizen journalism and most are discussed above. To restate the pros would be being able to report the news as it is happening from your cell phone. People wouldn’t need to wait to read the newspaper to see what is happening or what has happened in previous days. Even since the creation of the television citizen journalism has been around. With the growing advances in technology the news around the world can get reported within seconds of it happening with cell phones.

Though, one could argue that citizen journalism is not as reliable as traditional journalism. Traditional journalism has more merit behind the stories that they are reporting. There is more research and truth that is found within the traditional journalism stories. When people report for newspapers they actually talk to sources to find what is really going on and the reasons behind it. They just don’t report what is going on; they go in depth to make sure that their stories have validity to a certain story. In most cultures the traditional media or journalism is starting to fade, which is a shame because a lot of the stories that are reported are great stories and ones that take a lot of time to prepare. It may seem as though people aren’t interested in the stories that were researched they care more about the citizen type of journalism. Though, citizen journalism is very convenient, it may not be as reliable as traditional journalism.

Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional Media

Citizen journalism falls into a broad spectrum of meanings. Citizen journalism consists of unedited, live footage and information. Some people feel citizen journalism is too real and unedited for the public view. The footage is usually filmed with less than average equipment, creating the film to be shaky or blurry; the sound quality is usually not good either.

People rely so much on traditional and even cyber media. Without traditional television or internet media, the public would probably be lost because that is where basic news comes from. The traditional media is also much quicker to broadcast news and footage than individual people filming news events. The quality of the footage is also much better with traditional media because of the high quality equipment used. The use of cyber media is increasing, but it is obvious traditional media is still the first choice in finding out information quickly.

Citizen Journalism vs. Cyber Media

Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing ad disseminating news and information” [1] This concept, by authors Bowman and Willis, shows that the purpose of this involvement in providing reliable, accurate, relevant and independence information needed for a democratic country. Citizen journalism does not require the reporter to be a professional journalist nor does it require the reporter to have professional training. A freelance journalist, Mark Glaser, once wrote,

The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others. [2]

Cyber media does not necessarily require news updates to be written by a professional. However the advantage of cyber media is its immediacy. Nowadays most people check news online because it’s the fastest place to read up on the latest updates. It’s easily accessible and you can review multiple sources at the same time to determine the relevance and accuracy. What I think is the amazing thing about cyber media is the fact that you can compare difference news coverage around the world to receive the most accurate piece or news.

[1] Bowman, S. and Willis, C. We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information. The Media Center at the American Press Institute. 2003. Print.

[2] Mark Glaser. "Your Guide to Citizen Journalism". Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/09/your-guide-to-citizen-journalism270.html. Retrieved March 22, 2009.

Citizen journalism, cyber media, and traditional media

Citizen journalism ranges from a person recording an event on their phone and then releasing it publicly to a person watching something happen and then writing about it. One positive thing about this is that the information is typically a first-hand account, which is good because it is very accurate. In addition, because the articles are written by average people, they tend to be easy for other average people to understand. However, there are some downfalls of citizen journalism. One such downfall is that because the information is written by average people, it doesn’t follow certain rules. For example, if a person has never written professionally, it is unlikely that they will write a literarily good piece on a drastic event they saw happen. Even good writers sometimes find it hard to about events that happen directly to them.

The difference between traditional media and cyber media is how the media is seen. Traditional media is media found through newspapers and radio stations. Cyber media is media found over the internet. While traditional media does have its benefits, cyber media has the benefit of being a fast way of communicating. Yet, cyber media is still held on a lower level than traditional media in terms of accuracy. Newspapers and such are counted on to be completely accurate all the time. Cyber media, however, is thought of to be biased towards one side of the story.

I personally can not imagine a world without “traditional” media because it has become such an integral part of society. When you think of a morning for the average American family, you think of the kids eating breakfast, the mom getting ready, and the dad sitting at the table reading the paper. This part of the life of society just doesn’t disappear. Although newspapers are losing profits because they aren’t as popular, I feel that they will always be part of our society.

Citizen Journalism

With the invention and widespread acceptance of the cellular phone, the citizens of the world became slaves to instant gratification overnight (at least the cell phone owning population). Once phone companies added cameras and internet access to the cellphone, people instantly gained the ability to communicate whatever they were experiencing to the rest of the world at any time, day or night, as long as they were in an area with good reception. This ability to record and broadcast anything they saw anytime they wanted led to the rapid growth of Citizen Journalism. No longer were major news networks and newspapers the complete monopoly in terms of reporting the news.

Citizen Journalism presents a great boon for a global population that is information hungry but limited in resources, as people no longer need to wait for a story to make it to a major news network. Within hours or even minutes of any major event where there are people present, assuming that at least 1 person has a phone, that event will be posted and re-posted all over the internet. While this may seem like an extra convenience for an impatient audience, in countries like China where the government has complete control over all major news sources this comes as a means of salvation for those craving the whole uncensored truth. Unfortunately, this innovation comes with some downsides that are inevitable when dealing with a medium that accepts unverified input from thousands of people. Unlike many major news organizations, there is almost no way to verify the information gleaned from citizen journalists, and no way for the layman to tell if the shaky footage they are seeing from a camera phone is accurately portraying the scene it claims to be.

Although citizen journalism solves a lot of the problems that traditional journalism is unable to, there is and probably always will be a place in this world for traditional journalism and traditional news media outlets. Traditional forms of journalism like newspapers and news stations on television add a certain degree of professionalism and, much more importantly, credibility to the news that they present. However, in order to survive in this new global age, where the population is becoming more and more moderate, biased news outlets such as MSNBC and FOX need to stop inserting their opinions into their broadcasts, and just focus on reporting what people all over the world actually want: Information. Preferably in the form of the truth.

Traditional vs. Cyber Media

Being an active member in citizen journalism would seem like a piece of cake. Provide reports on anything you want, whenever you want, and whenever you can, right? With evidence from the Neda [1] case it seems as though anyone could “report” on an event, whether it be a blog posting, a mobile phone upload, or even a mass text to a group of friends. However…

Nothing. It’s pretty much exactly as it seems. There don’t seem to be many legal issues involving the “reporter” (protected by section 107 of 1976 Copyright Act[2]). The only real downside could be credibility, and even that is balancing out between “reliable” news sources and citizen journalism. With all the propaganda about the corrupt news media, I find more often people rely on homemade reports because there seems to be less chance of media alteration (such as cutting and pasting). How often do you find yourself searching youtube for a video of the latest news story? We seem to want to crop out what other people have to say about it and just focus on the video itself to make our own judgements.

It doesn’t seem difficult to imagine a world without our “traditional” sense of media (i.e. Newspaper, Television, Radio, etc). After all, was television not a “new” form of communication in the time of the newpaper? And yet now TV has become the number one source of news for Americans[3] (second being the internet!). With more and more people owning portable media devices, mobile phones, and information and news being “pushed” to these devices, it is not hard to imagine the day where newspapers are no longer being printed, and instead, people subscribe to a news service, capable of scrolling through pictures, videos, and more importantly, sources.

[1] For Neda. Dir. Anthony Thomas. HBO, 2010. Documentary.

[2] U.S. Library of Congress. Copyright Law of the United States, Section 107. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92appa.pdf . Jan 2011

[3]Purcell, Kristen. “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer”. 1 Mar 2010. Web. Jan 2011

Citizen journalism vs traditional media

Most journalists that write for large newspapers hold impressive University degrees and have massive portfolios to prove their journalistic abilities.  They have the backing of large multinational news corporations and write full time as a job.  With the recent advances in technology it has become possible for the average citizen to create their own new stories which that can distribute globally in seconds via the power of the open Internet.  (Glaser, 2006)  There are many reasons why citizen journalists are a pleasure to watch or read about versus a professional full time journalist.  Citizen journalist offer views that a professional may not touch upon or see.  Often citizen journalists live in the communities they are reporting on and offer an insider perspective on an event that a professional may miss.   

Many people argue that citizen journalism is has problems with objectivity.  Many journalists offer skewed viewpoints that seek to benefit a certain group of people.  (Meyer, 1995)  This failure to offer objective reporting can mislead many into taking sides based on incorrect or heavily biased viewpoints.  Meyer lays out 6 defining elements of public journalism which include some more positive aspects of what citizen journalism should be about.  One of interest is that citizen journalists have willingness to delve deeper into stories allowing more in depth analysis of events. 

Citizen Journalism has a place in our everyday media repertoire.  I think that above all it is important to compare citizen journalism stories to the mass media publications and compare and contrast them.  I can’t imagine a world without mass media and I tend to be weary of citizen journalism.  I fear the complete lack of rules that exist for citizen journalist.  While some journalist may follow the ethical procedures that Meyer outlines in his paper I still trust the traditional forms of communication more than the independent journalist.  The area where citizen journalism seems to be a powerful tool is in areas where traditional news sources have trouble penetrating.  Areas like Iraq and Korea where there is strict control over who is allowed into the country is where citizen journalism shines.  In these places, where news normally does not escape that we need everyday people to create news stories so the rest of the world can know what is occurring in these hostile and closed media locations.

Glaser, M. (2006, September 27). Your Guide to Citizen Journalism. Retrieved                                     January 20, 2011, from Mediashift: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/09/your-guide-to-citizen-journalism270.html

Meyer, P. (1995, Septermbet). Public Jounalism and the Problem with Objectivity. Retrieved January 20, 2011, from UNC: http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/ire95pj.htm