Differences Between Citizen Journalism and Traditional Media
Media has the power of swaying and shaping perceptions of citizens. It can develop these ideas by instilling fear, bias, or distorting information. International reporters have in the past indicated that the Press Freedom Index in many countries is low. The situation can be linked to the arrest and intimidation of many journalists. Consequently, reporters become timid in sharing information and rarely explore hot topics. Traditional media outlets are biased in their reporting as they are keen on attaining financial success. They thus focus on news that increases the traffic levels, and not a remarkable story that is based on real events.
The other problem that is addressed by citizenship journalism is the irrelevance of traditional media. The emergence of bloggers has greatly helped to expose errors, omissions, and other irregularities that are common in conventional media. Journalists can also use Smartphones and social media platforms to make their thoughts public. Ethics is a significant concern in journalism as it ensures that there is sharing of the right information. It ensures that journalists remain focused and objective of their purpose. It is possible to manipulate data to fit in the interest of other parties. As such, the information offered to the public must be relevant, timely, and accurate. While this may be challenging to attain through traditional media, it can be addressed using personal social media accounts.
Sharing Platform
Sharing of personal views and stories with global audience is now possible with success being linked to technological innovations. The other factor that has led to the shift in journalism can be linked to social issues across the globe. There is a growing concern to address problems such as global warming, terrorism, and other issues. However, the success in dealing with these issues depends on the goodwill and commitment of all stakeholders. Many crimes are transnational, and this requires contribution of all citizens. By giving individuals such as society bloggers a chance to express their views, they are more likely to bring forth an alternative storyline while speaking their personal feelings. This helps to enhance and to keep stable the relationship between media and society.
Moreover, citizen journalism greatly contributes to enhancing societal relationship and reporting. Research shows that citizen journalism poses significant challenges to the type of information that society can believe. Unlike in traditional journalism where disseminated information can be assumed to be factual, citizen journalism has made it is difficult for people to decide on what to trust. This implies that the public media needs to be evaluated and re-checked to test its accuracy in releasing suitable information for printing.
I have interview the Station Manager of Cardiff TV, Daniel Glyn on the 6th of December 2019 and asked him if he believes that citizens journalism is better than professional journalism and he said that, he trust citizens journalism and it is very important because professional journalism will use citizens journalism a lot because, it is a good resource, they help us to understand the situation much more for example, the London bridge attach, it is quicker and you get more content, furthermore, you can see all the different views from a variety of people.
Since public journalism gives room for anyone to write and record anything as it occurs in society, the information needs to be evaluated to determine its accuracy. This is because human beings are more likely to edit some information to fit their deceitful purposes. In this occurrence, the data is deemed to be unreliable and unofficial for printing.
In the event where proper care is not put into consideration before releasing information, the spread of deceitful details is likely to destroy the relationship that exists between society and journalism. The dissemination of false information is also expected to influence the public to act in an undesirable manner.
According to Boykoff, public journalism has a narrow audience. Although blogging is anticipated to advance its audience soon, it is unlikely to overcome the international broadcast, as most of its audience are particular journalists’ friends. As a result of the limited audience, public journalism is improbable to make any meaningful change in the broader global society. For this reason, the ability of civic journalism in upholding and spreading its societal relationship is limited.
Conclusion
Across the globe, citizen journalism appears to be buffeted by several undermining factors likely to limit its spread. According to professional journalism, public media is presented as being subjective as well as haphazard in terms of the information it offers.
In spite of several factors limiting public journalism in its attempt to establish a desirable societal relationship, it is essential to acknowledge the fact that most of the individuals, as well as organizations, advocate its use due to increased participation. It is more likely to be utilized in democratic states as it enables participants to express their personal views, especially on matters affecting their progress. For this reason, citizen journalism provides mediation between the government and its citizens, hence enhancing the societal relationship with journalism. However, there is a need to enact measures to control the information spread through the use of this media.
