Citizen journalism involves non-professionals collecting and reporting news and information, often online. It has expanded with new technologies but also poses challenges. A key example is coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, where citizen journalists provided timely photos but also spread misinformation. Overall, citizen journalism can add new perspectives but may lack professional standards regarding objectivity and verification. It improves some aspects of news reporting during crises through wider coverage, but can also reduce news quality if not subjected to traditional journalistic practices and ethics.

1. Drawing on example of crisis, explain the extent to which citizen journalism
improves (or not) news reporting
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2. Citizen Journalism is basically defined as collecting, disseminating and analyzing news as
well as information by mainly non-professionals among the public where specifically there is
use of internet in communicating with the public. This information which is provided by
private individuals can take many forms varying from a podcast editorial to a report about
council meeting. One very important feature of the citizen journalism is that it is found usually
found online and moreover, the emergence and quick availability of internet with its web-
related innovations has made the concept of citizen journalism possible. (Rogers, 2015)
In similarity to the online domain which has interest in the gate keeping research, therefore
participatory journalism has also become a natural nexus for the journalist information.
Newspapers are mainly concerned with information as provided for online user generated
content as the editors also express professional concerns as long as reputation, trust and legal
liability. Gate keeping should rather become one of the most important and compelling logic
which will help n examining the citizen journalism online and its effects as well. (C. Lewis,
Kaufhold and L. Lasorsa, 2010)
Citizen Journalism started as a revolution in the early 2000s, with the beginning of
democratic process where one would no longer be only depending on the news and
information provided by the professional reporters. Though citizen journalism is still
considered as work in progress yet there is a huge expectation that this kind of journalism will
be a good way of communicating information and spreading awareness among the public. But
the situation of these citizen journalists has become very pitiful as they do not get paid for
their work and with such circumstances it is rather unrealistic to expect any level of
commitment from the citizen journalists which normal professionals usually do. (Rogers,
2015) The main reason for the emergence of citizen journalism was the introduction of
internet. It is today a universally accessible and globally relevant idea and has its own position
under the traditional media with both public and commercial presence.
Citizen journalism uses a lot of blogs and websites in order to write on a variety of topics
ranging from intimate diaries to that of political commentary. In fact most of the leading
newspapers today have a separation section of blog category in their official website. In the
year 2013, a training for the citizen journalism was conducted which attracted the interests of
a great number of people. (Hodzic, 2013) This is so since people were excited to participate in

3. commenting on social events and this made way for a tough challenge for citizen journalists
so that they too can improve their working performance. The present society is more inclined
towards the contemporary side of the story and this is why the role of media has changed in
many ways in comparison to what it was earlier. Even though citizen journalism was
considered amateur yet the big media companies had to support the citizen journalism as they
did not have any other choice in hand. (Hodzic, 2013)
The field of citizen journalism has expanded quite a lot as long as the technological advances
are concerned. There have been a lot of questions regarding the presence and validity of the
citizen journalism in the society such as the following:
 Should the citizen journalism be treated in parity to the professional reporters?
 What standards should the citizen journalists follow since they do not have any formal
training and experience of professional journalist?
 How quickly should the public believe the content of citizen journalism?
 What is the extent of skepticism that news consumers should have regarding the
citizen journalists? (Leibowitz, 2015)
One of the major citizen journalism crisis had taken place in the year 2013 when a citizen
journalists wrote in the Reuters blog about a manhunt for a suspect in the bombings. This
was indeed a big example of crisis and also demonstrated the risks and value of citizen
reporting via social media. The citizen journalists were able to capture some iconic photos
of the events and could also share the compelling stories which followed by the
announcement of bombings and the search of manhunt by the government officials. Yet
again it has been reported that social communities quickly report and get wrong
information including falsely accusing suspects. Even though there have been instances
when the an equal number of evidences have also shown that the communities had self
corrected themselves as well and improve on their misinformation. The Boston Marathon
bombings was indeed one of the exceptional cases which showed the incapacity of citizen
journalisms and also the lack of professional competency show that the citizen journalism
does not improve news reporting to a great height. (Knoblich, 2013) In contrary to this
event the professional news outlet don’t usually offer the same type of participatory
engagement for citizens as the citizen reporting does. In order to strengthen the voice of

4. the citizen reporters, outlets have been formed out of creative partnerships and this has
lead to citizen specific sites such as Reuters and Global Voices or even the combination of
YouTube, WITNESS and Storyful that will make things better and smooth for the local
public who is interested in knowing about the news and whereabouts for the benefit of the
people. Therefore, it can be stated that unprofessional photos and stories that capture
magnitude of each crisis has been accepted by every marketing and media houses and has
indeed become a standard practice now. Hence, engaging strategies are required to be
introduced in order to inspire citizen reporting and improve their quality of covering news
and information. (Knoblich, 2013)
The era of digital technology has provided these citizen journalists with tools and that will
help them to capture various events, images, video or even insight into the affairs along
with the interests of the audiences across the globe. The work of citizen journalists has
been considered dangerous while they also try to record evidence or also ignoring their
civic duty to lend help to others. Such criticisms have been very crucial and important
where the security was mainly an important concern and the events in the year 2012 social
media reports of the attacks by Muslims against North Eastern migrants of India which
also caused panic among the general public. Widespread discussion of the images within
news media and analysis of images have also been suggested that a lot of the accounts
have been fake and there is a need to identify as well as question the validity of fakeness.
(Watson and Wadhwa, 2013)There is huge amount of concern as also expressed in the
relation to spreading the rumors via using social networking sites. An example of Sandy
can be seen when rumors went viral and FEMA too had given out $300 worth of free food
stamps and also for those who had lost power and forced an initiation of control
mechanism. (Watson and Wadhwa, 2013)
There are indeed various layers to citizen journalism such as they are open up to public
comment as the readers get an opportunity to criticize, react, praise or even add to the
published work of the professional journalists. There is another part of it which is defined
as the citizen add-on reporter as the public submitted information can be offered for the
better working of the community with lone professional reporter. Citizen journalism is
also concerned with open source reporting where there is collaboration between a

5. professional journalist and also providing guidance to the reporter. (Outing, 2005) The
citizen blog-house has a lot of volunteers who put up their work on the websites as they
are short-lived and start out on strong views which is beneficial for the readers as well.
The citizen journalists also have newsroom blogs where there is citizen ombudsmen which
offers public commentary and also on how they would be performing and also explaining
the editor’s blog from this point of view. Integrating citizen and pro journalism comes
under one roof and this perhaps includes both professionally paid journalists and citizen
journalists as well. The volunteer journalists are potentially working towards the resources
of the citizen and that too will cover the more diverse and larger issues in bringing more
better perspectives. (Outing, 2005)
The main reason why the citizen journalists are criticized is that citizen journalists are not
accustomed to the established standards and practices of what the professional journalism
follow. Reports from citizen journalists are considered of a standard quality and may also
be either subjective and inaccurate. Citizen journalism are often seen with a skeptical view
as they may not function according to the traditional journalistic value of objectivity and
this is how the professionally trained journalists can understand the ethics as required of
the reporters. (UNCP, 2015)
Nevertheless the citizen journalism uses the latest technology tools and also worldwide
internet distribution as they could find out the new and different news stories. The citizen
journalists uses latest media technologies, social networks, media sharing websites and
also discovering the news more effectively and faster compared to what the professional
journalists may present. (El Semary and Al Khaja, 2013) Citizen journalists work
consistently throughout the day like a hungry journalists. Citizens are very active in their
role and process of becoming the journalists of the new and modern era who do not work
by any rules and rather make their own incredible importance in the organization as well.
Since the citizen journalism has their own personality and does not follow the traditional
form of journalism therefore, there is absolutely no care for the news and also the idea of
working in a different way of providing news. The citizen journalists do not care about the
presentation as well which is why they did not work on the reporting of news and events in

6. a proper manner which further lead to crisis in the reporting method. (El Semary and Al
Khaja, 2013)
There is a respect given to the ethical problems since it is associated with dissemination of
information and it has also been noted that most of the citizen journalists are basically not
trained in this field of reporting news and articles to the normal public. Citizen journalists
work upon the concerns where there is presence of recent emergencies and crisis which
may also provide emphasis on the analysis, critique and reporting norms of the events as it
is available in the given event. Even though it is not much surprising and informative too
at the same time that there is availability of information on ethics as it also constitutes
major obstacle against the widespread use of tools. The legal framework as addressed in
the issues raised by using social media at the time of crisis also provides a major
contribution as long as the dilemmas are concerned in the fast checking format. (Watson et
al., 2014)) Citizen journalism and their involvement in emergency communications also
work out and this allows the need and requirement of publicizing and disseminating
information offers which is an important opportunity for improving response efforts. The
reason for utilizing social media by individuals in order to report information and also for
providing ethical importance to the security of citizens is the main aspect why citizen
journalism was started. The citizen journalists played a major role in their applications as
they ensured new media has been conducted in the same manner as it is beneficial to the
social well-being of the people and also other people’s ethical way. The potential
performance and data individuals may have a chilling effect to the extent that there is
dissenting opinions can be shaped and communicated at the same time. (Watson et al.,
2014)
The claims as made by the citizen journalism both at the micro and macro level of
blogging and working on website is that of representing news on the public sites. There is
popular and widely accepted notion which is sourced by the citizen images of risk
episodes as being deployed by the professional media organizations including the events
such as the 2008 and 2005 terrorists attack in Mumbai and London footage. (Mythen,
2008)The academic debate about the value of citizen journalism has also yielded
something of a gravitational pull towards either technophobia. Citizen journalism can add

7. to the plurality of discourses which has been circulating about the hazardous events as
there is alternate use of mainstream news and questions at the same time. The risk
incidents of the media has also played a very crucial role in the way that there is traditional
media portals as well as utilizing alongside instead of newspapers, television and radio.
There is a big way in which the role of citizen journalism can access the economic and
cultural resources for the affluent and individuals in the internet can also be utilized as an
interpreting risk incidents. The citizen journalism acts in a major way as they can bridge a
gap or media which links the traditional journalism with the new media. The report for the
quality of information circulating in the risk incidents is also one of the reasons why the
discussion and debatable topics of the consumption of risks is the main positive effect
which the opportunities provide in the risk episodes. (Mythen, 2008) There is a dearth of
professional journalism as well in the media world which has led to the debate and
discussion about the risk episodes in the positive manner which also shows an increasing
need to improve the quality of information as circulating among the risk averse aspects of
the people.
Moreover, the presence of different media in the journalism industry is also a major reason
why there is risk information available in the media technologies and also for navigating
diversification of media platforms through which the risk news is also available in the
media industry. The empirical research which the citizen journalists work on is also given
importance since the readers can also work out well. Western media users have therefore
prefer the existence of professional journalism rather than citizen journalists since the
manner in which they use the professional people work is quite different in the way in
which the journalists can also work in a completely professional manner. (Mythen, 2008)
The reason why the citizen journalism can also work on to understand the betterment of
the fundamentals and their challenge in their stakeholders as involved in the
communication of risk. The promise of journalism is also critical since there is a great fact
to that mediated accounts as they play a great role in structuring the manner in which the
knowledge of people can also be formulated in the risk perception. The media and the
purpose for spreading the vernacular knowledge is the risk events which an individual can
make up the media accounts against the social interactions and also understanding the
sense that it makes through the risky episodes. (Mythen, 2008)

8. The audience or the readers as such are the main judges which help in getting the
information as they would work on the multiple sources so that there is automatically less
and lesser frequently for the newspapers and network television. The reason for the
information has also decreased and the readers too have been indeed a crisis of the media
industry as well as for the citizen journalism there was an absolute reason for emerging in
the crisis for the industry. (VAN DER HAAK, PARKS and CASTELLS, 2012)
Journalism is one of the major and important industries in and around the world which
carries information and knowledge which helps in broadcasting and this is how the tax
payer and advertising revenue is created.

9. References
C. Lewis, S., Kaufhold, K. and L. Lasorsa, D. (2010). The philosophical and practical
challenges of user-generated content for community newspapers. THINKING ABOUT
CITIZEN JOURNALISM, 4(2), pp.166-167.
Hodzic, D. (2013). Citizen journalism and its importance. [online] Iletisim. Available at:
http://iletisim.ieu.edu.tr/flows/?p=1266 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015].
Knoblich, T. (2013). Can Citizen Journalism Move Beyond Crisis Reporting. [online] pbs.org.
Available at: http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2013/05/can-citizen-journalism-move-beyond-
crisis-reporting127/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015].
Leibowitz, M. (2015). Drawbacks of citizen journalism. [online] Salzburg. Available at:
http://www.salzburg.umd.edu/lessons/citizen-journalism [Accessed 4 Jan. 2015].
Rogers, T. (2015). What Is Citizen Journalism. [online] Journalism.about. Available at:
http://journalism.about.com/od/citizenjournalism/a/whatiscitizen.htm [Accessed 4 Jan.
2015].
Watson, H. and Wadhwa, K. (2013). The Evolution of Citizen Journalism in Emergency
Management. [online] emergencymgmt. Available at:
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/training/Citizen-Journalism-Emergency-
Management.html?page=1 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2015].
Outing, S. (2005). The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism. [online] Poynter. Available at:
http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/69328/the-11-layers-of-citizen-journalism/ [Accessed 5
Jan. 2015].
UNCP, (2015). Citizen Journalism. [online] Available at:
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Journalism/CitizenJournal
ism.html [Accessed 5 Jan. 2015].
Watson, H., Baruh, L., L. Finn, R. and Scifo, S. (2014). Citizen (in)security?: social media,
citizen journalism and crisis response. Citizen (in)security?: social media & crisis response,
pp.295-296.

10. VAN DER HAAK, B., PARKS, M. and CASTELLS, M. (2012). The Future of Journalism:
Networked Journalism. International Journal of Communication, 2, pp.2924-2927.
Mythen, G. (2008). Reframing risk? Citizen journalism and the transformation of
news. Journal of Risk Research, pp.50-55.