Sense of Community as a Driver for Citizen Journalism
Clyde H. Bentley, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Brian Hamman
Hans Ibold
Jeremy Littau
Hans Meyer
Graduate Students
University of Missouri- Columbia
School of Journalism
Contact: 3 Neff Hall
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, Missouri 65211
(573) 884-9688
BentleyCl@missouri.edu
Submitted to the Civic and Citizen Journalism Interest Group
AEJMC 2006 Annual Convention
San Francisco, CA
Aug. 2-6, 2006
Sense of Community as a Driver for Citizen Journalism
Abstract
Persons who registered with a Midwestern citizen journalism site in order to gain the ability to
author on it were surveyed on their motivations. Using the registration rolls of
MyMissourian.com, the authors conducted a Web-based survey that tracked media usage,
interest in politics and attitudes toward community information. The study showed that the
sample of citizen journalists was highly interested in community building and local information.
While they were interested in political information, the interest was at least partially driven by a
desire for an alternative form of news delivery.
Sense of Community as a Driver for Citizen Journalism
Introduction
Blogs, MySpace, Craigslist, Flickr and more – user-generated information is an
inescapable part of the dawn of the 21st century. With more than 26.5 million sites in a
“blogosphere” that doubles every five months, there is little doubt that non-journalists are
participating in the information system (Sifry, 2006).
But what drives people to their keyboards? Is it a new form of political protest? A form
of cyber voyeurism? Or perhaps an extension of the factors that have driven newspapers
readership and television viewership for decades.
This study sought answers to those questions not by querying readers, but by surveying
people who registered for the opportunity to author on a citizen journalism Web site. The
authors gained access to the registration roles of MyMissourian.com, a pioneering citizen
journalism project of the Missouri School of Journalism. The survey sought the motivators that
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drove people to go out of their way to identify themselves as “citizen journalists.”
The results showed the extremely strong appeal of local community among citizen
journalists. Politics were of interest, but not as much as the desire to build community relations.
This is an initial study designed to illuminate for further research the apparent forces that
drive user-generated information systems.
Literature Review
“Citizen journalism” is a popular label used to describe a form of media that involves
moderated reader participation. It generally starts off as a Web-based approach, but one of the
long-term strategies is to develop a “best of” print edition that ultimately will serve as the
medium’s revenue source. The Northwest Voice, the citizen journalism arm of The Bakersfield
Californian, used material from the Web edition to revive its shopper edition (Terdiman, 2004).
The paper’s own institutional research showed that readership of its regular shopper edition was
low, and this was not pleasing to advertisers. Mary Lou Fulton, drawing upon an idea pioneered
in South Korea, guided the start of a community Web site that was run primarily on story and
photo submissions from the community (Bentley et al., 2005). As content increased, the material
eventually replaced the stale material that often stocked the shopper editions. Readership
increased for several reasons. There was a “refrigerator door” effect, meaning that citizens were
reading the print version of The Northwest Voice more closely because it included news
important to them or about them (Glaser, 2004).
But beyond the popular definition and the benefits in rebuilding sagging publications,
what is citizen journalism? In point of fact, citizen journalism reverses the sender-receiver
process of traditional journalism. Whereas newspaper, television and Web media use the
journalist as a “gatekeeper” in the process of selecting and presenting news, in the citizen
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journalism format the journalist is a “shepherd” in the process (Glaser, 2004).
What this means is that the journalist’s role is to seek out community voices and
encourage submissions; their only editing role is in making sure that copy is readable and does
not open the publication to legal problems such as libel or defamation, and then they make
selections as to what goes on the main pages of the Web site (Bentley et al., 2005).
It is worth noting that “citizen journalism” is just the latest name for this type of medium,
but it is the one with the most popular appeal. In its beginnings it was referred to as
“participatory journalism” or “open source journalism”, (Bentley et al., 2005)but it also has been
referred to as “grassroots journalism” (Gillmor, 2004). For the purposes of this paper, we will
use the term “citizen journalism” due to its overwhelming acceptance in industry circles and
trade publications, but it is more important here to present a clear conceptual definition if for no
other reason than the term “citizen” has proven to be problematic for some when assessing this
new type of medium. Very little scholarly research has been published on this burgeoning
medium because it is relatively new. Thus one of the goals of this work will be a clearer
definition of what citizen journalism is in terms of both past theoretical and conceptual work.
Conceptually, it is preferable to define citizen journalism as a journalist-moderated
community blog. This ties together several characteristics seen in the literature and allows for
synthesis in terms of what has been researched, and it makes use of strengths offered by several
different online formats, including moderated forums and blogs.
The first item to look at is the term “moderation”, which conceptually is defined by the
gatekeeper role performed by editors. Classic agenda-setting theory notes that the journalist uses
gatekeeping as editorial selection to determine the public discussion (McCombs & Shaw, 1974).
It is worth noting that while greater public discussion is a goal of those who promote citizen
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journalism, (Ananny & Strohecker, 2002), the direction or topics for discussion are often not the
concern of the editor involved as we shall discuss later on.
The second notion that is part of the citizen journalism definition is that of the blog.
There are many types of blogs and what citizen journalism attempts to do is use the community
blog format combined with the gatekeeping roles of news Web sites. Most researchers by now
accept blogs as simply being Web pages with several entries that are listed in reverse
chronological order (Rodzvilla, 2002). This definition is extraordinarily flexible because it
makes no distinctions between the different types of blogs that exist. The writing can be done by
one person or it can be a community blog, which is constructed by several members who are preapproved to be able to post to the site. It can be personal or expressive, and it can be written in
any manner from everyday prose to formal essay style. It also can be layered. Entries can either
all go on the main page, or they can be sorted according to preset conditions such as how recent
they are or by category (Bar-Ilan, 2004). One misconception about blogs is that they usually are
political. The opposite is actually true; they tend to be more about daily events, and political
writing tends to be woven in with non-political elements such as daily life events (Rodzvilla,
2002).
Citizen journalism offers new frontiers for study that other media have not. In the past,
studies have examined community integration as a byproduct of the medium being studied
(McLeod et al., 1999) and tend not to look at the medium itself as a form of participation. This
makes sense, given the traditional sender-receiver process used by gatekeeping. But because
citizen journalism at best turns that model around or perhaps scraps it altogether, it needs to be
studied in a different way. Much mass communication research has centered on community
participation in terms of newspaper readership (Stamm, 1985), which is both a strength and a
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weakness. The strength is we know a great deal about how newspaper readership impacts
communities, but when a new format comes along it is difficult to say how that research
translates. This research is intended to be a first step toward testing the newspaper model for
citizen journalism.
The question then becomes how readers of citizen journalism orient themselves to this
new type of news product compared to other types of media. We turn first to research into uses
of other media, by way of comparison. Researchers recognized early the advantages the Internet
offered over traditional news media, such as newspapers and television. For example, Internet
readers are freed from the traditional gatekeeping process in that they don’t take as many cues
from news editors when reading on the Internet (Tewksbury, 2003)}.
Other research indicates users will devote more time to reading texts on computer screens
than on paper, mostly because background information can be accessed at the same time
(Reinking, 1988). It was also found that those who read the online version of a newspaper
organize their perceptions differently. Readers are able to set their own agenda when reading the
online version, and this is partly due to how the two forms of media are organized (Althaus &
Tewksbury, 2000).
Whereas the lack of agenda setting is a perceived strength of the Internet, Tewksbury’s
research shows that in the absence of those editorial cues the reader is less likely to read news
about public affairs than they would in a newspaper. Readers overwhelmingly chose sports,
business and entertainment news over national news or politics when reading the Web
(Tewksbury, 2003). The research suggests that the absence of editorial cues does affect how a
reader reads an Internet news site, and Tewksbury notes that this has implications for citizen
journalism, which often stresses lower editorial control than other types of news sites. Users
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spend more time getting oriented to how to navigate a news Web site when they visit, and this
comes at the expense of consuming the information offered therein (Eveland Jr. & Dunwoody,
2000).
Information retrieval remains the main reason for Web use, just as it is in newspapers and
television, and it is used in much the same way traditional media use them (Flanagin & Metzger,
2000). This would help explain why the use of Internet news sites is similar to those in
newspapers in terms of information seeking. News consumption is based more on news category,
reader gender, and topical interest than whether it appears in one form of media or another
(D'Haenens et al., 2004).
The theoretical model being used for this study is uses and gratifications, a body of
research that argues people use media intentionally to fulfill various needs. (Katz, 1959; Klapper,
1963) One study found five primary motives for using the Internet: interpersonal utility, passing
the time, information seeking, convenience and entertainment. (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000)
Another found that there were four main motivations for seeking out information online:
guidance, information seeking/surveillance, entertainment, and social utility. (Kaye & Johnson,
2002) Their results suggest that entertainment was not a factor in seeking out political
information; they found that users connected to Internet sites with goals in mind rather than just
seeking out entertainment from a particular site. This would suggest a dispute to the notion that
many users go to news Web sites simply to pass the time, and it also seems to negate some of the
agenda-setting effects inherent in traditional media, as discussed earlier. The notion of
information seeking that comes from Kaye & Johnson would suggest that readers log on to
Internet news sites for a different reason than they have when they pick up the newspaper.
In a study done at the end of the 1990s it appears that, despite the decline in use of
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traditional media vs. the rise in Internet news site use, those who use Web news are more likely
to be newspaper readers, radio news listeners or television news viewers (G. S. Stempel III et al.,
2000). It is worth noting that the statistics used in the study run from 1996 to 1999, which means
they come near the beginning of the Internet boom and reflect a period of time when Internet
usage was less widespread than it is now. Further study to see if this pattern still holds might be
necessary in order to confirm whether these results would hold in today’s media climate. Usage
of Internet sites strongly correlates with newspaper use, although a similar pattern has not been
found between Internet use and use of television news (Althaus & Tewksbury, 2000). Put
together, though, these studies could suggest that the online product doesn’t detract from
readership for a traditional news source. How this connects with citizen journalism is another
question. The online material is often unique and never shows up in hard print, and that brings us
back to the original research question we have asked about who comprises the citizen journalism
audience.
Subscribers to a local newspaper tend to comprise most of the online readership for that
newspaper. These results tend to be the opposite when applied to a national newspaper, as the
online site’s readers tend to not be subscribers (Chyi & Lasorsa, 1999). The vast majority of a
newspaper’s readers are coming from the local market, about two-thirds of all unique users (Chyi
& Lasorsa, 2001). Thus online news sites that target local readers would likely be most
successful.
The assumption guiding this research is that people will use media sources that they trust,
and that part of motivations for use has been a big question in terms of citizen journalism due to
the lack of overarching editorial standards. Some of MyMissourian’s most read content has been
alternative viewpoints and topics that often do not make it to publication in traditional print or
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online media, and so looking at credibility from a uses and gratifications standpoint could shed
some light on motivations for use of a citizen journalism product.
For that reason one study looked at the frequency of use for newspaper and television
news consumers, but the results indicated that preference in media choice correlates with
credibility ratings, not frequency of use (Rimmer & Weaver, 1987). The news media have been
concerned about credibility at least since the 1980s. Since the 1960s several studies, using the
Roper method for surveying respondents, have determined that newspapers lagged behind
television in credibility. But beginning in the 1990s the decline accelerated in conjunction with a
sudden drop in network television news credibility (Ibelema & Powell, 2001). Still, one survey
measured the media’s perceived credibility after a series of scandals, including the Janet Cooke
incident, and it found the industry’s perceptions of low credibility were wrong (Gaziano, 1988).
Thus credibility cannot be strongly tied to just content, which would seem to bolster the notion
that citizen journalism can be viewed as credible by the reader public.
Credibility can be characterized as believability. Some add “community affiliation” to the
equation when defining credibility, noting that people will see a news source as having more
credibility if it is perceived as caring about the community on which it reports (Meyer, 1988). It
also is defined as “the degree to which an individual perceives the media source portrays the real
world truthfully” (Austin & Dong, 1994). This would be a strength of citizen journalism sites,
because they are community minded (Gillmor, 2004).
Kaye and Johnson found that reliance on traditional media was the best predictor for how
a user will judge an online media source’s credibility, a term they called “Webelievability”
(Johnson & Kaye, 2002). The study examined coverage of the 2000 presidential campaign and
the 1996 campaign and found users judged it as more credible in 2000. This indicates that as
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Internet use becomes more mainstream, the credibility of Web sites will increase; a study done
before this one showed high amounts of distrust toward both the press and government among
Internet users (Johnson & Kaye, 2000).
The Webelievability study shows that several sources have a part to play in building
online news credibility (Johnson & Kaye, 2002). The study’s path model shows that five factors
help predict online credibility: demographic variables, Web reliance, political variables,
convenience, and traditional media reliance. This model is important for Internet news credibility
research because it is the most extensive model created to date to describe how an Internet
audience judges credibility.
Research indicates the Internet matches credibility ratings for all other forms of
traditional media except newspapers, which scored the highest rating in the survey (Flanagin &
Metzger, 2000). A study looking at CNN versus CNN.com showed people viewed the Web
version to be more credible than the broadcast even though much of the content is the same
(Johnson & Kaye, 1998). Later research by Johnson and Kaye indicated that the more one relies
on traditional media, the more likely they are to view that media’s online companion as credible
(Johnson & Kaye, 2000).
Research Questions
RQ1: Is citizen journalism just an extension of a traditional newspaper or does it reach a new set
of readers?
RQ2: Do people register for a citizen journalism site because it connects them to the community,
or because it offers an alternative voice?
RQ3: Is there a difference between citizen journalists who read the local newspaper and those
who do not?
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Methods
Procedure
This study presents the results of an exploratory survey of registered contributors to
MyMissourian, a citizen journalism Web site that has been active since October 1, 2005. At the
time of the survey, MyMissourian had approximately 800 registered contributors, most of who
had submitted to the site at least once. In March of 2006 the researchers emailed all registered
contributors with a link to an online survey. A follow-up email was sent a few days after the
initial request. The survey had a 15 percent response rate, yielding 120 respondents. The
researchers first removed all respondents from the sample who said they registered because they
were required to by the online journalism class. This yielded a working sample of 86. Our
sample represents an audience that is mostly female (56 percent), married (55.8 percent) and
educated (61.7 percent had at least a college degree). See Table 3 for more demographic
information.
Independent Variables
Local newspaper readership
One question asked respondents to say how many days in the last week they read the
local newspaper. The researchers divided respondents into two groups: low newspaper readers,
who reported they read the newspaper three or fewer days in the last week, and high newspaper
readers, who reported they read the newspaper 4 or more days in the last week.
Dependent Variables
A series of questions asked respondents to rate on a scale between 1 (not important at all)
and 6 (definitely important) how much each consideration contributed to their decision to
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register at MyMissourian. Factor analysis followed by Varimax rotation resolved into two
factors that the researchers called “community interest” and “political interest.”
Community interest.
The community interest variable was created by averaging the responses for “seeing my
neighbors,” “building community relations,” “something my friends are reading,” “connecting
me to neighbors and friends,” and “has a sense of community” (Cronbach’s  = .86).
Political interest.
The political interest variable was created by averaging the responses for “Opinions I
agree with,” and “Alternative to traditional media” (r=.30, p < .01).
Results
The first research question asked whether citizen journalism attracts a different audience
than traditional newspapers. These preliminary results indicate a rather strong “yes.” It appears
that MyMissourian appeals to citizens who have moderate consumption of local media, but
almost no consumption of national media. (See Table 2 for media consumption statistics.)
More than half of the sample (57 respondents) said they did not read the national newspaper at
all in the previous week, and 76.7 percent read a national newspaper no more than two days in
the previous week. MyMissourian registered contributors also are light users of national
television news as opposed to local television news. Local newspaper readership, however, was
strong. Only 39.5 percent of respondents said they read the local newspaper less than three days
in the previous week while 46.5 percent said they read the local newspaper four or more days in
the previous week.
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Local newspaper readership was also negatively correlated with the frequency of
contributions to the citizen journalisms site. Registered authors who were also frequent readers
of the newspaper submitted significantly fewer articles to MyMissourian.
The second research question asked whether people registered as citizen journalists
because of an interest in building community or an interest in alternative political opinions. Both
motivations are strong drivers of registration on MyMissourian. Indeed, both variables are highly
correlated (r=.499, p< .01), suggesting those registered on MyMissourian have both a strong
interest in community and an interest in an alternative political voice. In addition, means for both
variables were high. The findings show a need for more research on the confluence of political
interest and interest in community.
The third research question looked for differences in motivations registering as a citizen
journalist between people who regularly read a local newspaper and those who do not. To
answer this question the researchers ran an ANOVA comparing scores on the community
relations motivation and political interest motivation between those who read the local
newspaper frequently, and those who do not. For the MyMissourian registered contributors,
those who do not read the local newspaper frequently reported that both building community and
political interest were significantly more important to them than those who do read the paper
frequently (For community relations, F(1,85) = 9.31, p < .01; for alternative voice F(1,85) =
14.66, p < .01). The results suggest that MyMissourian is particularly attractive to non-readers
of the local newspaper because it offers an alternative view of politics and a chance to build
relationships with the community.
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Discussion
Newspapers have struggled with how to address and ultimately take advantage of the
Internet for a decade. (G. H. Stempel III & Hargrove, 1996)argue the Internet has yet to become
a major player in the news business because “many people who use the Internet never use it for
news” (G. H. Stempel III & Hargrove, 1996)The problem is how the newspaper industry has
approached the new medium. (Jane B Singer, 2003)reported that 1,200 newspapers had
established Web sites, but most of these sites relied on “shovelware” or a daily repurposing of
print stories. Few took advantage of the ‘Net’s full potential because they could not relinquish
control of the information. “Newspapers have struggled with a potential transition from their role
as guardians of what enters the public to builders of a virtual commons” (Jane B. Singer, 2002).
By making every citizen a journalist (Oh, 2004), citizen journalism could be the first step
in this transformation, but before newspapers can take full advantage of it, they must understand
how it affects their traditional print role. With its three research questions, this study has tried to
shed light on the phenomenon. What the results study suggest is traditional newspapers and
citizen journalism Web sites complement each well, filling roles that neither can alone.
The survey results suggest citizen journalism appeals to not just a new set of readers, but
to a demographic the industry highly covets. More than 57 percent of the survey respondents
were under 40 years old. Thirty-six percent were under 25. Fifty-five percent reported they were
married or in a committed relationship. These young married adults represent the core audience
that newspaper readership ventures seek.
Newspapers continue to face a declining readership trend, especially among young adult
readers (Hartman, 2005)To stem the tide, the Media Management Center at Northwestern
University and the Newspaper Association of America created the Readership Institute in 2002.
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Through an annual survey, the organization gauges newspaper readership through three factors –
how often a person reads the newspaper, time spent with the paper and how much of the paper
they read – converting them to a seven point Reader Behavior Score. Among people 18-24, RBS
has decreased significantly since 2002 to 2.59 – which roughly means they read a paper less than
two times a week (Nesbitt & Levine, 2004)
Among other age groups, RBS scores do not show the same consistent decrease. Among
all adults, including readers and non-readers, RBS is 3.34 in 2005. That is a statistically
significant decrease from 2003, when RBS was 3.56. Adults 25-44 had an RBS of 2.83 in 2005,
up from 2.75 in 2002, but way down from 3.18 in 2003. Adults from 45-64 and 65 plus remained
consistently near or above an RBS of 4.0 in all three years of the survey, with those 65 and above
scoring more than 4.44 in 2003 (Nesbitt & Levine, 2004).
One reason the institute offers for declining newspaper readership rates among young
adults is the rise of the Internet. Overall, 64 percent of respondents have never visited their
newspaper’s Web site but this is down from 70 percent last year. In addition, RBS among people
who read the online version of the paper is significantly lower than those who don’t (4.53 vs.
4.72).
Whether print or online, the key to driving young people to the news is making sure the
news gives them something to talk about. “We’ve listened to readers describe their lives, how
they use news and how they use our newspaper, and realize that for many people, of all ages,
news is a socializing tool. They use it to connect with others. So our newspaper will provide a
high proportion of content that people can’t get anywhere else, with a strong quotient of “did you
see that [story/photo/column/ad] in the Hometown Gazette today?” (Nesbitt & Levine, 2004).
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Based on the survey results, giving people a place to talk about what is important to them
– whether community or political issues – may be what drives readers to citizen journalism sites.
The study’s second research question asked if citizen journalism was either a political or
community phenomenon, the researchers found support for both facets. The unifying factor was
providing a discussion forum. The statistically strongest factor that people liked about
MyMissourian was that it connected them to new opinions. Other strong variables included
providing a sense of community and knowing your friends are readers.
The two aspects of the political factor had more to do with having an alternative to
traditional media and a place to find like opinions than with political discussion. The specific
question about using the site for political activism failed to load on either factor. When founding
the sites, MyMissourian editors noticed a similar phenomenon. “Politics seemed an obvious
concentration for MyMissourian and became the focus of the editors’ content efforts. The editors
aggressively promoted this section, attending festivals where politicians were campaigning for
local, state and national offices and attending major political events. Despite these efforts, there
were few contributions to the politics section at any time during the campaign season” (Bentley
et al., 2005).
Readers are not turning to citizen journalism for specific political news, perhaps because
they are already receiving this information from the newspaper the study suggests. In answering
the third research question, citizen journalists seem to indicate that the difference between the
site’s light and heavy local daily newspaper readers is simply what people say they get from the
site. The study does not support the idea that people are turning away from the print product
because they have the Internet. In fact, it suggests a strong complimentary relationship exists
between citizen journalism and the daily newspaper.
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Both heavy and light newspaper readers registered as citizen journalists reported they saw
the community and alternative to traditional media benefits of citizen journalism. Fifty-two
percent of all respondents agreed with the statement “I registered for MyMissourian to write
about a topic that gets little coverage in the media.” Another 48 percent said they registered to
see their stories published online while 45 percent wanted to read stories from their friends and
family members. The most liked factors were an alternative to traditional media at 73 percent
and building community relations at 65 percent.
Taken together, these findings suggest the important local focus both a daily newspaper
and a citizen journalism Web site must adopt. By providing readers a forum to publish anything
that is important to them, citizen journalism enhances a news organization’s local reach and
could thereby provide a better community-building forum than if the paper were to exercise its
gatekeeping role and selectively publish only the news that fits in the print edition. The readers
will still turn to the newspaper for its staple of typical fare, including stories on local politics, but
will go to a citizen journalism site to read about something the paper doesn’t normally cover,
such as deer hunting photos and stories (Bentley et al., 2005).
Other findings suggest the best solution to reaching new readers and providing the
community forum and alternative press they seek is through a combination of both a print edition
and a citizen journalism Web site. The first possible support lies in the large numbers of
respondents who read the local daily newspaper. Only 39.5 percent said they read the local
newspaper less than three days in the previous week and 46.5 percent said they read the local
newspaper four or more days in the previous week. Contrast this with the poor readership scores
for national media and support for an intensely local news orientation emerges.
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Respondents, however, seem to indicate they would like a guide in this process. More
than 26 percent said they found out about MyMissourian through personal contacts, while
another 11 percent said they had been invited by MyMissourian staff members and 10 percent
responded to an advertisement in the Columbia Missourian. Only 30 percent say they have seen
the Saturday print edition of MyMissourian, but strangely enough, a nearly identical percentage
of respondents reported they registered for the site to see their contributions in print. In addition,
the number of registered contributors to MyMissourian skyrocketed from just over 250 before
the launch of the Saturday print edition, to more than 775nearly 800 in 2006. In contests the site
has offered, the most effective prize has usually been publication in the print Columbia
Missourian (Bentley et. all, 2005).
In order to reach new readers and forge stronger communities this study suggests forging
a strong partnership between a traditional news product and a more open citizen generated
Internet presence. A hybrid approach is what could finally make the Internet a major player in
the news business because it would give readers what they need and what they want – someone
to explain the news and give them a chance to share their own stories. But this will require a
fundamental change in how the news is produced and managed. No longer can news
organizations be content to be the primary entity responsible for disseminating information. They
must transform reporters into editors and themselves into guides and enablers on the information
superhighway.
Future Research
The reconfiguration of the news sender-receiver relationship brought on by user-driven
Web formats like citizen journalism tends to be seen as one of the biggest challenges facing
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journalism today (Deuze, 2005). This study illuminates some aspects of this puzzle, namely the
crucial role of the professional journalist, the public’s interest in community and its desire for
alternative forms of information to supplement – not replace -- traditional forms.
Future research is needed to explore citizen journalism in practice. As these formats
continue to develop roots in urban and rural communities across the United States, research is
needed that approaches citizen journalism not from a normative standpoint that seeks legitimate
or illegitimate journalism but, rather, from a standpoint that accepts the form as information and
commentary that a public has deemed important. Approaching citizen journalism in this way will
bear fruit for researchers interested in the impact of the format on journalism and its role in the
community.
This study’s finding of a correlation between community interest and political interest
points to a need for deeper understanding of the role of citizen journalism in citizenship-building.
Future research is needed to explore the relationship of Web-based citizen journalism to social
networks (association membership and neighborliness), trust in the community, and political
behavior (voting, critical attention to government). Such an approach could also probe for new or
modified digital tools that would allow citizens to more effectively engage in these pro-social
processes.
It is worth repeating, however, that this study’s findings point to an interest in certain
media forms that are community oriented and intensely local but with a dearth of national
politics and its deliberative processes. Sociologists (Habermas, 1966; Kymlicka, 2002) have
touched on this phenomenon, noting a growing awareness of the importance of civic activity
(public deliberation and critical attention to government) but at the same time a trend toward
greater apathy, passivity, and withdrawal into the private sphere of family, career and personal
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projects. (Kymlicka, 2002: 295) argues that most people find the greatest happiness in their
family life, work, religion, or leisure, not in politics: “Whereas the ancients sacrificed private
liberty to promote political life, moderns view politics as a means (and somewhat of a sacrifice)
to protect their private life…We no longer seek gratification in politics because our personal and
social life is so much richer than that of the Greeks.” Future research is needed to understand the
specific values that citizen journalism promotes and the relevance of these values to mainstream
journalism and its articulated purpose (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2001)of providing the information
people need to be self-governing.
In addition, research should explore the working relationship of the citizen journalism
format with mainstream journalism. Respondents indicate an interest in a complementary
relationship. What, then, is the relationship between mainstream journalism and citizen
journalism and how does this relationship play out in practice? What works and what does not?
Further application of media dependency theory to this topic would be strategic. Media
dependency is defined as a relationship in which the capacity of individuals to attain their goals
is contingent upon the information resources of the media system (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur,
1976). The theory suggests that as society becomes more complex, there are fewer traditional
interpersonal means of communication. Thus, the media replace these past means of
communication and bind isolated individuals together. Within the media dependency framework,
what role is citizen journalism playing in the larger media use picture?
Limitations
Because this was a preliminary survey, the sample was too small to generalize to the
larger population. Future research should investigate other citizen journalism Web sites to see
whether the need for community and an alternative voice are consistent motivations for joining.
19
Sense of Community as a Driver for Citizen Journalism – Page 20
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics
N MinimumMaximum Mean Std. Deviation
Community Connection86
5.00
30.0017.7674
6.25662
Alternative Voice86
2.00
12.00 7.5930
2.34836
Table 2
Weekly news consumption of local and national media, by percentage
Local daily news
Local TV news
Television talk show
National TV news
Cable TV news
Local radio
National radio
0
16.
18.3
40.8
21.7
36.7
34.2
42.5
1
16.7
8.3
16.7
16.7
14.2
8.3
9.2
2
6.7
11.7
6.7
16.7
7.5
6.7
7.5
3
14.2
6.7
8.3
9.2
7.5
10.8
5.8
4
6.7
10
5.8
5
5.8
10.8
3.3
5
7.5
11.7
5
9.2
5.8
9.2
9.2
6
6.7
5.8
5
6.7
5.8
5
4.2
Table 3
Demographics
N
Percent
Some high school
High school graduate
Some college
College graduate
Some graduate school
Master's degree
Doctorate Degree
1
5
18
24
6
23
9
1.2
5.8
20.9
27.9
7
26.7
10.5
Female
Male
49
37
57
43
18 to 25
26 to 30
31 to 40
41 to 50
51 to 65
65+
15
8
15
23
20
5
17.4
9.3
17.4
26.7
23.3
5.8
Single
In a committed relationship
Married
Divorced/Separated
Widowed
17
8
48
11
2
19.8
9.3
55.8
12.8
2.3
2
2.3
Education
Gender
Age
Marital status
Race
American Indian/Alaskan Native
20
7
25
27.5
11.7
15
16.7
15
18.3
Sense of Community as a Driver for Citizen Journalism – Page 21
Caucasian/White Non-Hispanic
Hispanic
African American/Black Non-Hispanic
Asian or Pacific Islander
Other
76
3
1
3
1
88.4
3.5
1.2
3.5
1.2
Less than $10,000 per year
More than $10,000 but less than $30,000 per year
More than $30,000 but less than $50,000 per year
More than $50,000 but less than $100,000 per year
More than $100,000 per year
Did not respond
11
19
14
34
6
2
12.8
22.1
16.3
39.5
7
2.3
Income
Table 4
Motivations
Seeing my
neighbors
Mean
Median
Std.
Deviation
Minimum
Maximum
Connecting to community
Alternative voice
Community
Friends are Sense of
Connecting me to Opinions like Alternative
relations
reading
community
neighbors
my own
traditional
3.02
4.09
2.64
4.34
3.67
3.17
4.57
3.00
4.00
2.00
4.00
4.00
3.00
5.00
1.64
1.55
1.57
1.48
1.53
1.52
1.40
1
6
1
6
1
6
1
6
1
6
1
6
1
6
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