THE REASONS WHY CITIZEN JOURNALISM IS TRANSFORMING THE NEWS LANDSCAPE.
By Philip Janet Kavutha
In the contemporary media, citizen journalism is now one of the most disruptive forces. Through their smartphone and the internet connection, regular users are transforming the process of news capture, sharing and verification. It is not a gradual change occurring in this shift. And agree or not with the traditional media, the race to power of news reporting will never be the same again.
There is one reason why citizen journalism is on the increase and that is speed. Individuals on the ground are quicker in news than any newsroom which is limited to editorial procedures. On the verge of crisis, protesting, or tragedy, first photos and videos are usually taken by passersby, not by professional journalists. When mainstream media comes, it is already internalized, trending, and forming our opinion. The sources of news that used to take pride in first informing the truth have been reduced to second responders. Citizen video is now relied upon to construct them
stories by many, which is an undeniable indicator that the audience has become the focus of real- time storytelling.
The decades of gatekeeping are also being broken by citizen journalism. The traditional media used to have the monopoly of making decisions on which stories are important. However, when individuals have the ability to write down and share their own experience, the oppressed groups are no longer silent. The youth, slums dwellers and the minorities can now tell their stories. This democratization of storytelling does not leave mainstream media alone as it is compelled to reconsider what is considered as newsworthy since the days when stories were told about people without them speaking are over.
Naturally, there is a negative aspect of this revolution. The greatest threat is misinformation. Not all citizen reporters check facts, sources or adhere to principles of ethics. It is not always journalism but sometimes it is emotional, a rumor or a speculation. The fake news circulates rapidly and when the mainstream media corrects the news, people have already taken a step forward. This leads to a very challenging question: Is citizen journalism a gift to democracy, or a tool that can be very easily used to twist the truth? The honest answer is both.
Nevertheless, despite those dangers, citizen journalism has been very essential in highlighting prejudice and partial coverage in mainstream media. Unedited footage by citizens in most cases is contravening the sanitized news packages and media houses are forced to make arguments to protect their credibility. Viewers have gotten to be more cynical, critical and less trusting of refined stories. We do not like this examination, but it must be done.
It is one fact that cannot be disputed: citizen journalism is there to stay. It is not a menace to traditional journalism it is a wake-up call. It requires journalists to be more fast, open-minded, and collaborative rather than competitive in their information verification.
It will not be a case of one side taking the future of news. It will be constructed by a potent blend of citizens who supply crude, direct truth and professional journalists who will bring to this combination precision, profundity, and responsibility. The media world is not merely evolving
but being evoked noisily, publicly and irreversibly.
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