Citizen journalism is when everyday people or people who are not trained journalists collect, report and distribute news and information just like mainstream or professional journalists but post their “work” on social media platforms, whereas mainstream journalists post theirs in the traditional media. These people may have different objectives and ideals for gathering and reporting on these news items and information. Examples of citizen journalism is the gathering and reporting by citizens during the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the December 2010 Arab spring. These citizens do the gathering and reporting by the use of technological devices like mobile phones and digital cameras. These news items and information mostly come in the form of video, audio and pictures. They are posted on social media platforms such as blogs, photo and video- sharing sites like youtube, etc. It can exist within the main framework of a mainstream media outlet and it can also exist on its own.
Social media can be said to be a platform which enables interactions on the web by means of creating, sharing and/or exchanging information and ideas. These interactions are done by the use of texts, audio and video using online applications. Some of these applications are facebook, blogs, wikis, podcasts, twitter , deli:cious, bado, youtube, linkedin etc. Citizen journalists therefore use these platforms (facebook, Reddit, youtube,etc) to share news items and information to members within their circles who in turn also distribute it to those within their circles. These social platforms allow users to contribute or comment on the postings of other users. These comments may either be positive or negative pertaining on how the user views it.
Traditional media is the old and usually archaic or out- moded way of distributing news items and information. It can also be the non-electronic mediums which works as part of our culture and as vehicles transmitting tradition from one generation to the other. Traditional media includes radio, newspapers, magazines, books, movies and orally. Traditional media has been used for years in the forms of sales promotions, public relations and direct marketing, before the advent of the internet and eventually the development of social media through the amendment of web 1.0 to web 2.0 which is user friendly.
The introduction of social media platforms such as facebook, twitter, youtube, Reddit and the like, as well as the innovation of technological devices such as mobile phones, iPads, digital cameras and laptops, just to mention a few has had a somehow tremendous or crippling effect on the traditional media used by mainstream journalists. In that, social media platforms allows for users to post or broadcast whatever information they want to share online without any real restrictions in spaces supposed to be used and times convenient for these information or news items to be shared. Unlike traditional media, the social media allows these citizen journalists to reach out to a limitless amount of people at the same time whereas the traditional media is limited in the number of people it reaches. Information put across in traditional media can also not reach a lot of people at the same time. Though technological devices and the use of the internet is expensive and thus demand a lot of monetary investment as supposed to traditional media which is less expensive, the new media transmits information faster and it is also easier for citizen journalists to use. Social media also allows citizen journalists to get instant feedback from other users unlike the traditional media whereby readers or the audience needs to write or send feedback which will be publicized in the next issue of traditional media if it is print like newspapers or magazines or read on the program if it is a show on radio, since the traditional media is limited on the basis of time, space and days when programs are televised or delivered. The gathering, reporting and distribution by citizen journalists by use of social media affect the work or the transmission of mainstream journalists and media houses in that, the audience are now relying more on citizen journalists for news and information online and “abandoning” the traditional media which used to be their only source of news items and information on either news, entertainment, sports, etc. This to an extent is also because accessing social media platforms for information is not time consuming like the traditional media. Thus, one can access whatever information he or she likes at his or her own convenience online unlike the traditional media which does not give this option. For example, if any audience wants to watch the day’s happenings, he or she needs to wait till evening when most media houses telecasts the news bulletin before getting informed on what made the news during the day. However, social media allows for the user to access any of the social platforms at any given time suitable for the user to get the information he or she requires without any restriction on time.
Despite all the above mentioned effects citizen journalism through the use of social media is having on the traditional media due to the active participation by the users of these social media platforms, traditional media houses are rapidly integrating citizen journalists in the mainstream media by equally creating accounts and/ or pages on social media platforms like facebook and twitter which allows citizen journalists to share with them any information be it in the form of texts, photos, audio and videos which they in turn use as part of their mainstream disseminating or distribution of information or comment on their reportage. Citizen journalists have also welcomed this initiative by the traditional media and thus contribute to the pages or accounts created by these traditional media houses’ on social platforms anything they deem as worth sharing to aid them in their work by sometimes creating awareness and other times to educate or bring to the notice of the proper authorities to cause a change in their environment. Traditional media houses have also created websites which allows for users to access the page at any given time for any information needed. They also now have online publications of their traditional outlets which the audience can have access to at any time. Examples of traditional media houses which have incorporated citizen journalism into their mainstream reporting and dissemination are CNN and TV3. Tv3 has created a segment on their seven o’clock news bulletin called ‘Mynews’ which allows for viewers to share with them news stories which is basically in a video form before or during the news on situations going on in their communities or around them to be telecast as part of their news bulletin. They also have a facebook page where they post the news headlines for the day to allow viewers comment on those headlines, and their comments read live during the news. CNN also have an online site called I-Reporter which allows citizen journalists to post news items or share information usually in a video form.
In all, though the introduction of social media and social media platforms and the innovation of technological devices have facilitated the quickest and easiest way of sharing news items and information by citizen journalists posed a great threat to the effectiveness of the traditional media, the traditional media houses is intelligently trying to incorporate citizen journalism into the mainstream media. Though this is a step in the right direction, the fact still remains that mainstream journalists of traditional media houses cannot be everywhere at the same time and will still need to rely on citizen journalists to relay some or most news items and information on social media platforms like facebook, twitter, youtube and the like for them to pick and develop into their mainstream news items. Thus, citizen journalists cannot be do away with since the mainstream or traditional media houses need them. However, the news items and information shared by these citizen journalists may not always be factual or can be twisted based on their affiliations or emotions, and there is no real way for the other user accessing that information to know the truth. Mainstream journalists however go by their journalistic principle which entreats them to be objective in their reportage. Thus, it is devoid of emotions or bias.
Christina Vanderpuye
Benjamin Agyepong
Follykoue Ayele Esther
Solange Moukarzel
Teiko Nartey-Khama
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