Sourced from: www.masternewmedia.org/
Camera phones are being used to tell the news.
Journalists have an important role to play, in the conveying of news to the mass audience. In this digital age however, the traditional roles of journalists have morphed to suit the needs of people. Hence, the emergence of citizen journalists.
Ordinary members of the public are being given the chance to put their thoughts and opinions out in the world for all to see. News was now “being produced by regular people who had something to say and show, and not solely by the ‘official’ news organizations” (Gillmor 2006).
Tsunami 2004
The shocking 2004 Asian tsunami was the spark which exploded citizen journalism into the international arena. Digital technologies such as the Web, blogs, digital cameras and camera phones, enabled people at the scene of the disaster to capture the scene as it was occurring (Outing 2005). The first wave of buzz immediately after the tsunami struck South Asia, was one of concern regarding the loss of lives. As information poured in however, curiosity began to take over. People all over the world were interested in learning more about the “giant walls of water” that had struck the region (Srinivas 2005).
Sourced from: http://www.crystalinks.com/tsunami12_04.jpgThe tsunami crashing into a city in 2004.
The dire conditions during the tsunami and in its aftermath were a hindrance to many professional journalists. Eyewitnesses were the main source of information distribution and were able to share their “heart-wrenching stories, photographs and videos with the rest of the world” (Outing 2005). These forms of delivering the news were more effective than merely written articles. This is because; “the combination of movement and sound” of multimodal texts with electronic enhancements causes the interaction between the content and audience to improve (Walsh 2006).
Scoopt
In the wake of the Asian tsunami, many news organisations have been out to “exploit mobile snaps and videos” (Ethics Issues for citizen snappers 2005). Kyle MacRae the creator of the agency Scoopt, says that while the photographs and videos were in high demand by the media, these organisations were not willing to pay the citizen journalists for their efforts. Authenticity of the photographs was also constantly being questioned. Scoopt functions both with professional and amateur photographers, but is always careful to authenticate their material before releasing it to the public (Ethics Issues for citizen snappers 2005).
Mainstream media
Although most of the materials obtained from eyewitnesses are published on specified blogs, there are several media outlets which use the citizen journalists to their full potentials. The BBC News Online, has done the best job of incorporating citizen journalists into their network. The Guardian, Time.com and MSNBC.com are other such examples.
Sourced from: http://fvdb.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/billboard.jpg
A billboard promoting citizen journalism, by CNN.
The future of citizen journalism
The lives of people are altered permanently by natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes. With the birth of citizen journalism, survivors will be able to tell their part of the story and create a connection between them and the rest of the world. Citizen journalism is here to stay and will continue to gain popularity in the future.
Reference
1. ‘Ethics Issues for citizen snappers’ 2005, BBC News, 5 August, viewed 11 June 2008, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4746633.stm>.
2. Gillmor, D 2006, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, O’Reilly, United States, viewed 11 June 2008,
3. Outing, S 2005, Taking Tsunami Coverage into Their Own Hands, viewed 11 June 2008, <http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=76520>.
4. Srinivas, S 2005, ‘Online Citizen Journalists Respond to South Asian Disaster’, AUSC Annenberg, viewed 11 June 2008, <http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050107srinivas/>
5. Walsh, M 2006, ‘Textual Shifts: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.
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