July 16, 2005
What are...'Citizen Reporters'?
The Times looks into citizen journalism with a critical and as I see it, paranoid eye. Citizen reporters are often victims and witnesses at the same time, whereas reporters are professionals, dispatched on a scene after the fact. Their perspective is different and so is their timing. In this article, the Times sounds really threatened. Excerpts:
"Are we really witnessing the birth of a new era of journalism, one in which the public collaborate with news outlets to report the news? Only a couple of weeks ago the idea of the citizen journalist seemed a trifle worthy, the province of media studies lecturers.
Now that the citizen can be drafted in not only as writer but as cameraman, citizen reporting will become much more widespread. Even before the events of last week, the use of handheld video cameras was forcing futurologists to rub their goatee beards thoughtfully.
... Last week's events have brought that kind of people power closer. But amid all this talk about democratising the news, we should retain a dose of scepticism. Without the relationship of trust between reporter and editor, how is anyone to authenticate what we are seeing through the grainy eye of a mobile phone? Unscrupulous news outlets may see citizen reporters as an excuse to slacken the editorial process and penny-pinch on reporting budgets. And rubberneckers everywhere will have a convenient new call to arms — let me through, they'll cry, I'm a citizen reporter.
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