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CITIZEN JOURNALISM and the INTERNET by Nadine Jurrat April 2011

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CITIZEN JOURNALISM and the INTERNET by Nadine Jurrat April 2011 REFERENCE SERIES NO. 4 MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA: CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND THE INTERNET By Nadine Jurrat April 2011 Citizen Journalism and the Internet —An Overview WRITTEN BY Nadine Jurrat1 Citizen journalists have become regular contributors to mainstream news, providing information and some of today’s most iconic images, especially where professional journalists have limited access or none at all. While some hail this opportunity to improve journalism, others fear that too much importance is placed on these personal accounts, undermining ethical standards and, eventually, professional journalism. Th is paper summarizes recent discussions about citizen journalism: its various forms and coming of age; its role in international news; the opportunities for a more democratic practice of journalism; the signifi cance for mass media outlets as they struggle for survival; the risks that unedited citizens’ contributions may pose for audiences, mainstream media, and citizen journalists themselves. Th e paper ends with a call for a clearer defi nition of ‘citizen journalism’ and for further ethical, legal and business training, so that its practitioners continue to be taken seriously by professional media and audiences alike. 1. Nadine Jurrat is an independent media researcher. Mapping Digital Media Th e values that underpin good journalism, the need of citizens for reliable and abundant information, and the importance of such information for a healthy society and a robust democracy: these are perennial, and provide compass-bearings for anyone trying to make sense of current changes across the media landscape. Th e standards in the profession are in the process of being set. Most of the eff ects on journalism imposed by new technology are shaped in the most developed societies, but these changes are equally infl uencing the media in less developed societies. Th e Media Program of the Open Society Foundations has seen how changes and continuity aff ect the media in diff erent places, redefi ning the way they can operate sustainably while staying true to values of pluralism and diversity, transparency and accountability, editorial independence, freedom of expression and information, public service, and high professional standards. Th e Mapping Digital Media project, which examines these changes in-depth, aims to build bridges between researchers and policy-makers, activists, academics and standard-setters across the world. Th e project assesses, in the light of these values, the global opportunities and risks that are created for media by the following developments: the switchover from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting growth of new media platforms as sources of news convergence of traditional broadcasting with telecommunications. As part of this endeavour, Open Society Media Program has commissioned introductory papers on a range of issues, topics, policies and technologies that are important for understanding these processes. Each paper in the Reference Series is authored by a recognised expert, academic or experienced activist, and is written with as little jargon as the subject permits. OPEN SOCIETY MEDIA PROGRAM 2011 3 Th e reference series accompanies reports into the impact of digitization in 60 countries across the world. Produced by local researchers and partner organizations in each country, these reports examine how these changes aff ect the core democratic service that any media system should provide – news about political, economic and social aff airs. Cumulatively, these reports will provide a much-needed resource on the democratic role of digital media. Th e Mapping Digital Media project builds policy capacity in countries where this is less developed, encouraging stakeholders to participate and infl uence change. At the same time, this research creates a knowledge base, laying foundations for advocacy work, building capacity and enhancing debate. Th e Mapping Digital Media is a project of the Open Society Media Program, in collaboration with the Open Society Information Program. MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA EDITORS Marius Dragomir and Mark Thompson (Open Society Media Program). EDITORIAL COMMISSION Yuen-Ying Chan, Christian S. Nissen, Dusˇan Reljic´, Russell Southwood, Michael Starks, Damian Tambini. The Editorial Commission is an advisory body. Its members are not responsible for the information or assessments contained in the Mapping Digital Media texts. OPEN SOCIETY MEDIA PROGRAM TEAM Biljana Tatomir, deputy director; Meijinder Kaur, program assistant; Morris Lipson, senior legal advisor; Miguel Castro, special projects manager; and Gordana Jankovic, director OPEN SOCIETY INFORMATION PROGRAM TEAM Vera Franz, senior program manager; Darius Cuplinskas, director Th e views expressed in this publication do not represent, or necessarily refl ect, the views of the Open Society Foundations. 4 MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND THE INTERNET Contents I. Introduction: Th e Rise of Citizen Journalism on the Internet and in Traditional News ............. 6 II. Defi ning Citizen Journalism...................................................................................................... 7 III. A Short History of Citizen Journalism ...................................................................................... 9 IV. Can Citizen Journalism be Better Journalism? ........................................................................... 11 V. Th e Risks of Citizen Journalism ................................................................................................ 13 VI. Forecasts ................................................................................................................................... 16 Further Reading ................................................................................................................................ 18 OPEN SOCIETY MEDIA PROGRAM 2011 5 I. Introduction: The Rise of Citizen Journalism on the Internet and in Traditional News Since the invention of the printing press, non-professional writers have shared information and highlighted perceived injustices through pamphlets and brochures. However, these early forms of citizen journalism had their restrictions: information could only be shared with a limited number of people, and only after a lengthy, and often costly, production process. With the coming of age of Web 2.0, sharing information with millions of “netizens” around the world within seconds has become a reality for anyone who can access the internet. As U.S. Senator Howard Dean once commented: “Th e internet is Gutenberg on steroids.”2 As a result, millions of non-professional journalists have been sharing their experiences online, bringing issues to the news agenda that were not—or could not be—covered by mainstream media. At the international level, this has been most apparent during times of crisis: eye witness reports on 9/11 or the violent crackdown on demonstrators during the contentious 2009 Iranian presidential election. Hence, many journalists and academics hail citizen journalism as a more transparent and democratic form of journalism, or as David Cohn, founder of several citizen journalism initiatives, states: “Citizen journalists are artisans who work in the unshaped clay of events before perception has been hardened, glazed and fi red in the kilns of public discourse.”3 Others, among them many professional journalists, are more skeptical. One of them, the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) political presenter and former political editor, Andrew Marr, said in September 2010 that “Most citizen journalism strikes me as nothing to do with journalism at all.”4 Both opinions are valid but at the extreme end of recent discussions. Th is paper will provide an overview of 5 what is considered citizen journalism and how it is shaping national and international news agendas. 2. Cited in T. Fiedler, “Crisis Alert: Barack Obama Meets a Citizen Journalist”, in S. Allan and E. Th orson (eds.), Citizen Journalism: global perspec- tives, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009, p. 211. 3. D. Cohn, Broowaha.com, “About us”, 17 October 2010, available at http://www.broowaha.com/about_us (accessed 31 October 2010). 4. Cited in “Andrew Marr attacks ‘inadequate, pimpled and single’ bloggers”, Daily Telegraph, 10 October 2010, available at http://www.telegraph. co.uk/technology/internet/8053717/Andrew-Marr-attacks-inadequate-pimpled-and-single-bloggers.html (accessed 5 November 2010). 5. Citizen journalism has also been very successful at the hyperlocal level. See J. Schaff er, Citizen media: fad or the future of news? Th e rise and pros- pects of hyperlocal journalism, J-Lab, 2007, available at http://www.kcnn.org/research/citizen_media_report/ (accessed 4 November 2010). 6 MAPPING DIGITAL MEDIA CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND THE INTERNET II. Defi ning Citizen Journalism Defi nitions of citizen journalism are as varied as the names it is known by: guerilla, networked, participatory, street, or open source journalism, to give a few examples. Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis describe it as “[t]he act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.”6 In practice, this can range from commenting on an existing news piece to publishing an article, podcast, photo or video on a personal blog or on Twitter, a dedicated citizen journalism website like Th e Huffi ngton Post or on YouTube, or on interactive websites that work as extensions to mainstream media, such as Cable News Network’s
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