Citizen Journalism

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Citizen Journalism

• Also known as citJ, it involves formats such as
  blogs and message boards that allow readers to
  participate in dialogue and even act as reporters
  and editors.(adjective participatory)

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How to Create a Blog

• blogger.com
• You can also feature advertising.

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Blogging goes against the grain.

• Democratic expression of free speech
  (uncontrollable)
• Traditional journalists want to control a story
  for ethical reasons.
• Public relations specialists want to control
  communication for commercial reasons.
• Corporations dont usually want to take risks.

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The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism

• By Steve OutingPoynter Institute

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Layers 1-5

• 1) Opening to public comment (e.g., contact,
  blogs)
• 2) The citizen add-on reporter--readers are
  invited to add info and experiences, which are
  then incorporated into subsequent stories
  (series).
• 3) Open-source reporting (collaborative reporting
  techniquee.g., asking people to participate
  before a story is written, suggest interview
  questions, contribute special knowledge, and
  credit people with pop-up notes).
• 4) Citizen bloghouse (e.g., http//denverpostblogh
  ouse.com)
• 5) Newsroom Citizen Transparency Blogs (Editors
  blog explaining editorial decisions and newsroom
  procedures).

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Layers 6-11

• 6) Stand-alone Citizen Site Edited Version
  (composed almost entirely by citizen writing
• 7) Stand-alone Citizen Site Unedited version
  (misconduct button can limit abuses).
• 8) Add a print edition (www.yourhub.com).
• 9) The hybrid Pro citizen Journalism OhmyNews
  combines professional reporting with citizen
  reporting (approx. 38,000 citizens participate
  and compose 70 of the site). \
• 10) Integrating citizen and pro under one roof
  (not done yet to Outings knowledge)
• 11) Wiki Journalism Where the readers are the
  editors Like Wikipedia (wiki wiki means
  rapidly in Hawaiian, and is a web forum where
  anyone can contribute).

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Assignment 1

• 1 Can blogging be journalism? Blog your
  answer at www.cosmospasm.blogspot.com. Explain
  why or why not. View some blogs that have been
  called "journalism," such as the links below, and
  find some of your own. In what ways are these
  blogs consistent and inconsistent with the
  definition? Do they have codes of ethics that you
  can recognize? Do they have their own codes of
  ethics? Are independent blogs fundamentally
  different from those affiliated with a news
  organization? Explain.
• Definition
• Journalism is a discipline of collecting,
  verifying, reporting and analyzing information
  gathered regarding current events SPJ Code of
  Ethics
• Blog Examples
• www.buzzmachine.com (Jarvis)www.instapundit.com
  (Reynolds)http//www.billoreilly.com/blog
  (OReilly)

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Assignment 2

• 2 Read Francis Millers YourHub.com blog from
  6/15/06 called The Significance of YourHub.com
  (http//denver.yourhub.com/Story.aspx?contentid9
  5166) and write a one-paragraph response to it.
• Do you believe that blogging, UTube, YourHub.com,
  and other citizen journalism is changing the
  nature of news? Is it changing the nature of
  journalism? Explain why or why not.

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Some Points to Consider on Subjectivity

• Of 3 million blogs estimated by blogcount.com,
  relatively few strive to resemble journalism.
• Of those that do, most primarily offer personal
  experience or comment on the reports of others
  rather than offering their own reporting.
• Relatively few bloggers are trained journalists.
• So, one question is To what extent does
  subjectivity constitute truth, and of what
  value might that truth be?

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Some Questions about Codes of Ethics

• How do we know that a blogger isnt being paid to
  say nice things about a company, person, product,
  or service?
• Can we tell the difference between a professional
  blogger who does take money in this way and one
  that does not?
• How can we be sure a blogger is who s/he says
  s/he is?
• How do independent blogs differ from blogs in
  known publications?
• How does centralization and decentralization of
  power affect the message?

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Will you blog?

• For your midterm group project, will you include
  a blog? What goals and considerations have you
  discussed?

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Questions?