Previous posts on this blog have discussed the diminution of traditional media as digital media grows more dominant, the subsequent development of news deserts as smaller communities lose their daily newspapers, and the importance of a free press in a democracy. “Citizen journalism,” is often mentioned as the solution to saving democracy as community newsrooms shrink or disappear, with the understanding that without journalists acting as watchdogs, our government, corporations, and systems will grow more corrupt in the absence of accountability. Can the responsibility for accountability be safely left in the hands of the citizen journalists? Not without addressing issues of access, credibility and dissemination.
Democracy depends on fair press
Writing for Nieman Reports, Mary Ellen Klas, who recently spent a year as a Nieman Fellow, cites the ongoing impact of the decline of traditional media on government accountability as newsrooms have shrunk. According to Klas, as reporters covering local and state government are laid off, coverage of complex issues disappears, making it easier for special interests to influence politicians and for bad budgets and tax hikes to pass without public examination. As the press corps has shrunk, government administrations have grown more opaque and less inclined to share information with reporters, opting instead to control all their messaging on their own social media channels. Without the press on hand as watchdogs, local government activities occur out of the public eye. Klas writes that even with its deficiencies, “local journalism helps reduce government corruption, increases the responsiveness of elected officials to their constituents, and encourages public participation in local politics” (Less Local News Means Less Democracy, n.d.)
Citizen journalism = user generated content
The term “citizen journalism,” has evolved to mean any number of different kinds of user generated content, from opinion blogs to YouTube channel commentaries, or breaking stories with eye-witness video posted on social media in real time (Rogers, 2010). To some degree it also reflects the shift in the balance of power between traditional news organizations and the public, which once was just a recipient of directional media but now can be an active participant in media (Nolan, n.d.). Interaction and feedback can be immediate on news sites that have enabled user comments, allowing opportunity for citizen journalists to contest the contents of a story or enhance it with their own reporting in real time.
The Issue of Access
There are examples in recent times of the tremendous impact citizen journalists can have on exposing issues that might otherwise remain unseen, a prime example the viral videos of George Floyd’s murder, which spurred a wave of protests that culminated in a court hearing that found Derek Chauvin guilty of murder. Other incidents of police brutality have been caught by a cell phone video, shared on social media and driven public awareness of an event that would otherwise be hidden from view, giving the public the opportunity to demand justice. Citizen journalism can make a great impact when citizens capture an event as it unfolds and share on social media.
But the power of the press in regards to government oversight has to do with the access they can demand from the government and the expertise journalists develop when they specialize on a certain beat. A journalist might specialize in public school news or the prison system or county tax structure, meaning someone with a high level of experience and expertise on a subject, committed to being impartial, is watching out for wrongdoing. It is not so easy for everyday citizens to get this experience and access to government and government officials, or to get an interview with an elected official in the interest of asking them hard questions about a proposed budget, particularly with the trends towards government opacity in sharing information.
Credibility - Who to Believe?
When you visit Joe Smith’s blog, self-acclaimed citizen journalist, how do you know he is legitimate? Has he researched his story thoroughly, checked his sources, etc.? Does he have any ties to the subject he is writing about that make him a biased source? Does he have anything to gain by convincing you of his point of view? How is Joe going to get folks to believe his reporting? Professional news media outlets are not without bias, but they are subject to public scrutiny and bias checks. There are also a number of media bias charts that might provide a guideline for whether a source can be considered factual and relatively unbiased, but even the charts themselves can be biased. Click here to check out a great article by Candice Benjes-Small, Head of Research at William & Mary, and Nathan Elwood, Library Administrator at the Missouri Legislative Library, on media charts and tips for recognizing bias (Author, 2021). Primary news outlets like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NPR and PBS Newshour have built credibility over many years of trusted reporting from credentialed journalists, while citizen journalists don’t necessarily have the credentials or associations to establish their own credibility.
Dissemination
If you are a citizen journalist, how do you promote the stories you publish without an advertising budget? It isn’t easy, and in fact, disseminating information organically has grown more difficult as digital media companies like Google and Facebook revise their SEO and organic reach practices to give them more control over the product they sell to their advertisers. Companies always have a different way of putting this - for example Facebook, when they changed their organic reach algorithms claimed it was to craft a “better user experience” (Chaim Gartenberg, 2019). That “better user experience” in practice means that even when you follow a group or company on Facebook you aren’t likely to see all their posts. For an organization not deploying paid promotion, only 2-5% of their followers will see a post (Chantelle, 2021).
Source: expandcart.com
Collaboration - The Happy Medium?
Given the issues of credibility, access and dissemination, how can citizen journalism promote the transparency necessary for a healthy democracy? Collaboration, civic engagement and public sponsorship for media are all key. There are many opportunities for citizen journalists to contribute to the mediascape in a way that shares credibility, capitalizes on access and allows for maximum dissemination, when citizen journalists work in conjunction with professional journalists. From low-threshold citizen journalism that invites public comment on existing news stories, to a more collaborative model of open source reporting provided to professional journalists, to integrated models of sites that are a balance of professional journalists and citizen journalists both providing content with rigorous oversight for background research and fact checking, citizen journalism can contribute in a meaningful way to protecting our democracy. That said, the opportunity for citizen journalists to contribute can only exist if professional journalists and media outlets are supported to the degree that they can still embed in government and institutions to allow the access needed for full transparency. Non-profit entities like Spotlight PA in Pennsylvania are offering opportunities for independent investigative reporting funded by grants and individual donors in collaboration with existing newsrooms (Our Mission, 2020). Funding models for digital enterprises like this could promote a new model for a robust network of professional and citizen journalists. Professional journalists and citizen journalists can work together to “agitate, investigate, and scrutinize our leaders and institutions. That freedom is the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship” (Importance Of A Free Press, 2018)
References
Author. (2021, February 23). Complex or clickbait?: The problematic Media Bias Chart. ACRLog. https://acrlog.org/2021/02/23/complex-or-clickbait-the-problematic-media-bias-chart/comment-page-1/
Chaim Gartenberg. (2019, March 8). What is Facebook? Just ask Mark Zuckerberg. The Verge; The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/8/18255269/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-definition-social-media-network-sharing-privacy
Chantelle. (2021, October 3). 4 Ways to Solve for Organic Social Media Reach Decline. Chantelle Marcelle, Brand and Marketing. https://chantellemarcelle.com/improve-organic-social-media-reach-decline-2/
Chung, Deborah & Nah, Seungahn. (2013). Media Credibility and Journalistic Role Conceptions: Views on Citizen and Professional Journalists among Citizen Contributors. Journal of Mass Media Ethics. 28. 271-288. 10.1080/08900523.2013.826987.
How citizen journalists, cell phones and technology shape coverage of police shootings - College of Information and Communications | University of South Carolina. (n.d.). Www.sc.edu. Retrieved February 13, 2022, from https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/cic/journalism_and_mass_communications/news/2020/citizen_journalists_cell_phones_shape_coverage.php#.YgmZIy3Yrrcces
How to Increase Organic Reach on Facebook in 2021? | ExpandCart. (2021, December 23). Expand Cart. https://expandcart.com/en/32759-how-to-boost-your-facebook-organic-reach-in-2021/
Importance Of A Free Press. (2018, May 3). Charles Koch Institute. https://charleskochinstitute.org/stories/importance-of-a-free-press/
Less Local News Means Less Democracy. (n.d.). Nieman Reports. https://niemanreports.org/articles/less-local-news-means-less-democracy/
Nolan, M. (n.d.). How to separate fact and fiction online. Www.ted.com. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/markham_nolan_how_to_separate_fact_and_fiction_online
Our Mission. (2020, July 17). Spotlight PA. https://www.spotlightpa.org/about/mission/
Outing, S. (2011, March 2). The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism. Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/archive/2005/the-11-layers-of-citizen-journalism/
Rogers, Tony. (2019, January 15). Citizen Journalism and Its Powerful Role Outside the Mainstream Media. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-citizen-journalism-2073663
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your incite on citizen journalism. I like the fact that you showed why traditional journalist are still so important. We do have that training, and we do have the credentials needed to go to those politicians and have them answer the hard questions that many citizens, and citizen journalist don’t know to ask. We as traditional journalist have the power to impact change by putting politicians on the spot and not allowing them to hide behind their speech writers. Yes, traditional journalist can be bias, but our training and our guidelines given limits that natural characteristics of bias.
On the flip side, like you stated citizen journalist do play a vital role in journalism, they are on the ground with equipment, i.e., their cell phones, ready to get that breaking story. I do appreciate the fact that they are affecting change in positive ways as well. As mentioned in your blog and many blogs the George Floyd case. It is possible that Floyd and his family would not have received justice for his murder if it had not been for the citizens constantly filming his last moments.
I think with so restrictions, traditional journalist and citizen journalist can work hand and hand. Our career field is small, and we can’t be everywhere, but they are everywhere. They see things we don’t, and they want it recorded or live. I appreciate, that they are capturing what we miss, but not everything is news, not everything can be taken at face value, and things do require proper research and knowledge when it comes to calling it news.