The term citizen journalism refers to a wide range of activities in which everyday people contribute information or commentary about news event. The recent development in technology has helped the growth of citizen journalism, including the creation of the internet and camera phones, for example. Citizen journalism epitomizes the belief that the experiences of people personally involved with an issue present a different—and often more complete—picture of events than can be derived from the perspective of an outsider. The list of citizen journalism sites is long and includes sites limited to nonprofessional reporting, such as NowPublic and CyberJournalist, and divisions of traditional media companies that feature citizen journalism, such as CNN’s I-Reporter.[1] On the other hand, citizen journalism can be biased or opinionated, as opposed to professional journalism which is supposed to take a neutral standpoint.
An example of an event which was well suited for citizen journalism was when the pilot of a failing aircraft landed his plane on the Hudson River. People around the scene immediately began filming the incident with their cellphones or cameras, and posted their footage on the internet.[2]
It would be a great loss for society if traditional media disappeared. Television news broadcasts are generally the most trusted and most accurate, in comparison to citizen journalism. Personally, I prefer tuning into a news station on TV to keep updated on current events, rather than reading news blogs on the internet. However, I do realize the importance of citizen journalism.
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