Citizen Journalism is exactly what it sounds like - ordinary, everyday people creating, reporting, and distributing the news. One of the fundamental principles of citizen journalism is that literally anybody can participate in it, and nobody has to be a certified "professional" to partake in it. Of course, there is good and bad that comes with that.
It has been said that journalists are the "gatekeepers" of information. Gatekeeping is defined as "the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something." As someone studying journalism, we are taught to have good news judgment, to verify facts, and to vet our sources. Since technology is ever-growing, there are so many different ways to receive and send news, making it easier for anybody to become a journalist. However, many citizen journalists do not take the time to practice traditional journalistic values.
A plus to citizen journalism is that we get to hear the voices of the individuals that are underrepresented or misrepresented. We get to hear first hand from someone living in poverty, or someone transitioning from male to female or a black family who has just lost their son to another police shooting. Allowing people to use their voice and share their stories firsthand, and not through someone else is a great outlet and many of us can learn a lot from their stories. However, with some good, there is always a whole lot of bad.
We have heard the term "Fake News" a lot since the last Presidential election. While I think a lot of it has been exaggerated by the President himself, fake news is still an issue that many journalists worry about. With citizen journalism on the rise, fake news seems to be on the rise too. This is due to the lack of verifying facts as we discussed earlier. The main problem with citizen journalism is that it is not always news and it tends to be more opinion than fact. Don't get me wrong, opinions should be shared, but they should not be disguised as news and fact.
As selfish as this may sound, citizen journalism also has an effect on me and my future. Ever since I was in the 7th grade and I discovered my passion for writing, all I wanted to be was a journalist. I took classes in High School, and I went around telling my friends and family that someday I would be the next Megyn Kelly (just not working for Fox News). I've spent the last 3 years studying what it takes to be a good and true journalist, and to learn that anybody can do this, with a degree or not, kind of crushed my dreams a bit. I know when it comes down to it, someone with a journalism degree is far more credible than someone who is not, however, I will have to spend the rest of my career fighting citizen journalists, and I gotta say I am up for the challenge.
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