There's a lot of media buzz around citizen journalism these days : some see it as cheap or free labour lowering the standards of journalism, others as a vital tool to reengage a disengaged audience – leveling the playing field in the process.
In her White paper for the Freedom of Expression Project, social software consultant Suw Charman looks at how citizen journalism is changing the face of news: "Unlike some, I don't think that citizen journalism is going to replace traditional journalism, but rather that journalists are going to have to adapt to take into account the needs of not just their readers, but also their community and the citizen journalists alongside whom they work," she says.
Here's some of my favourite quotes from the White paper, but there's lots of interesting stuff here, so go read the whole piece:
...We have plenty of information. What is scarce is attention..
...Algorithmic filters can only ever be a small part of the story. We need human beings to act as curators of information, to help us understand the wider context of the story, provide analysis, make connections, and explain complex stories using metaphor or analogy...
...the web is built of hyperlinks, and there is a valuable opportunity for the media to deepen their coverage of the news by linking to the sources used in an article's preparation, plus background reading, watching or listening. Instead of simply republishing content in a flat unlinked form, news organisations should be considering how they can use hyperlinks to create richer, more informed, and more nuanced coverage of every type of news. This is particularly important in complex areas such as geopolitics, conflict, and globalisation, where context is required for full understanding....
...The empowerment of the public has undoubtedly resulted in increased civic engagement. Political apathy occurs when citizens feel disengaged from the political process, so it is essential to democracy that people are able to take part in public discourse: the ability to speak out, to be heard, and to make a difference is of vital importance in modern society. Citizen journalism plays a key part in this process, but with massive proliferation of information sources, we risk overwhelming ourselves, thus stifling instead of nurturing the conversation...
Are bloggers really journaists? I doubt it, they are more editors. They seldom present new "news", but rather comment on news from other sources.
On the other hand: even traditional media are becoming more referers, due to the technologial opportunities. Perhaps blogs end athet media wil melt more together?
Posted by: Gene | May 13, 2007 at 07:34 PM
No, I don't see blogs as journalism, though of course, technically speaking, a blog is just a publishing platform, and can be used to do journalism, but that is rare. I elaborate more on how I see blogs vs journalism in this comment:
http://kristinelowe.blogs.com/kristine_lowe/2007/05/some_musings_on.html#comment-69271816
Posted by: Kristine | May 13, 2007 at 09:49 PM