Right now I would like to address Citizen Journalism and how it relates to me professionally as well as personally. When researching Citizen Journalism I found out that there is no specific definition that can be used to describe the idea, After looking through many of the offered definitions, I understand Citizen Journalism to be way for anybody to write and publish whatever they desire, over the predominant source of the web.
In my opinion, Citizen Journalism is another example of the idea that ‘users can become producers’ as discussed in my previous blog. I explored produsage by relating it specifically to youtube and how anyone can produce film and upload it to the web. When looking into Citizen Journalism I found out that this is an aspect of produsage in which many similarities seen when comparing it with the new technology of youtube.
A major aspect of Citizen Journalism is blogging, anybody can have a blog on the internet where they can write on whatever they like with no strings attached and as a result of this very diverse pieces of work can be found on the internet. Users can spend a whole month blogging about the fact that their roommate keeps eating the barbeque shapes from the cupboard, simple blogs like this are quite common on the we (http://lisajalocha.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/happy-birthday-mum/ – a blog on a mothers birthday). However on the other end of the spectrum, elaborate blogs on politics and world issues are also very prominent EXAMPLE. Clearly, this aspect of Citizen Journalism is very similar to the idea of youtube as an avenue for producing both amateur and professional work. However Citizen Journalism stretches beyond the idea of users blogging over the internet, there are other aspects of Citizen Journalism such as online websites where serious aspiring Journalists can gain experience and feedback on their work.
I found a site called News Unlimited, this is an online news website set up by aspiring journalists. News Unlimited can be considered an example of Citizen Journalism as it the writers don’t have professional experience, it can be considered interactive as comments and feedback is encouraged “we have an open contribution policy – if you’d want to read about it, we want to hear about it” (News Unlimited. 2009). This site personally interested me purely because of the content, I enjoyed the articles written and even made a comment on one of them.
Over all, I suppose the point of this blog was to identify with Citizen Journalism and make the connection it has with produsage. I decided to write this blog more informally than my previous blog because my interest in Citizen Journalism is more casual as apposed to professional. I look forward to reading more articles on News Unlimited, I think I might actually bookmark the site!
May 13, 2009 at 4:22 am |
Hey Gemma,
It’s really interesting how you begin by outlining the limited definitions about Citizen Journalism. Because it’s such an innovative idea, I think you could use to to your advantage. Through highlighting the nature of citizen journalism as a new concept you can justify your lack of definition. Moving on, I really enjoyed the idea of CJ from both your professional and personal point of view and have found of interest the importance you place on blogging compared to formal online news sites such as News Unlimited. The examination as News Unlimited as a site with open contribution policies outlines this as a site that promotes citizen journalism. I am interested to hear about CJ and its affects on a professional level as this is only marginally touched on. A great read, really informal and easy to get your head around. Look forward to your future articles.
Manelle