Citizen Journalism
Also known as “mass amateurization,” citizen journalism allows for news to spread in a quicker way. The rise of interactive media has made it accessible for people to create their own user-generated content. This content can be in the form of news. Citizens can easily upload their own news stories and share videos of current events happening around them. Citizen journalism reaches thousands, even millions, of people fast. While professional journalism is though out and goes through higher ups before published, citizen journalism is real. Citizen journalism provides a different type of coverage compared to professional journalism. Mass amateurization can be presented in real time, sometimes live. People can post as soon as they wish, whereas professional journalist go through processes. Their stories will take longer to publish. Citizen journalism can be more effective on viewers then professional journalism. Real citizens posting real news shows more raw emotions that stick with the viewers. This method of journalism makes it easy for people to follow along with. People can post their news under a hashtag where other people can see multiple posts about the same topic. This allows users to stay updated on what is happening and also allows for feedback. With citizen journalism being published to interactive media, other users can comment, like, and share the content for other people to see. Seeing a reporter on television may not be as effective as seeing threads online of the same news story. With the information being posted online, viewers can easily learn more about the topic, rather than watching a minute long news segment. People can learn more with citizen journalism due to the fact that nothing is off the record. These journalists can hear information that would traditionally be, “off the record,” and they can still share that information with others because it is not in a professional setting. The informal setting of citizen journalism additionally allows for other users to form groups and knowledge communities to find information together and work towards the same goals. People can collaborate with others that have similar interests to gain information by using citizen journalism. Citizen journalism gives people the creative power to publish their own stories. People can learn more about what is going on in their communities through citizen journalism. The stories posted on interactive media may never be publish through major news outlets, which gives citizens more knowledge about what is going on in the world around them.