Journalism &
Citizen Journalism
Breann Boze
Ray Wang
Mandy Falkner
Definitions
Traditional Journalism
Written or oral assembly “characterized by a direct
presentation of facts or description of events without an
attempt at interpretation.”
Citizen Journalism
“…when the people formerly known as the audience
employ the press tools they have in their possession to
inform one another.”
State of Play
Evolution of Citizen
Journalism
Cavemen painting events on rock walls
Bible brought to the masses by Gutenberg’s printing
press (1400s)
The people could analyze and interpret without the
“gatekeepers at the pulpit”
Led to differing public opinions/writings—Protestantism
The Federalist Papers (1787-1788)
Hamilton, Madison, Jay
85 essays published in newspapers
Evolution of Citizen
Journalism
Newspapers and news networks allow readers to
write/phone/send in film footage and other
information for public viewing.
Blogs, video (YouTube), cell phones, radio, etc.
Newspapers and broadcast news networks shift to the
Internet.
Change in Traditional
Journalism
News Networks (broadcast)
Increasingly visual/audio society
Increasingly fast-paced
Stories and footage available on-demand online
Fleeting era of trusted anchor
Newspapers (print)
Shifting to the Internet to stay alive
Brings in youth audience
Internet is less expensive than printing methods
American Newspapers Visual
Convergence of New and Old
Media
Jenkins’s convergence culture
New York Times blogs
Infuses opinions, interpretation, and insight into
articles
No longer static news environments
uReport
Fox News & MySpace
iReport
CNN sponsored citizen journalism (“On CNN”)
Gatekeepers
Gatekeeper concept
So what is a gatekeeper in journalism?
Someone who determines the news
Highlights particular stories, promotes trends, restricts
the flow of information
Gatekeepers
In the old days, traditional media were the gatekeepers
to information
Newspapers were limited in how much they could print
Broadcast was limited in how much time they had to
report news
Gatekeepers
However, with the Internet, there have been a number
of gaps in the gate that once filter news
The Drudge report
Newsweek chose not to publish the story on ClintonLewinsky scandal
It was Internet reporter Matt Drudge who posted the
story online
The freedom of the Internet allows anyone and
everyone to contribute to stories now
THE GATES ARE NO LONGER CLOSED
Gates now open to any and all info. if you have Internet
access
Gatekeepers
Benefits
Little towns which got no coverage on their local events
could now do their own reporting thanks to access to
new technology.
Gatekeepers
With no filter, except maybe your own interests,
information overload becomes an issue.
Columbia Journalism Review did a report on the study of
online journalism today
Concluded that the Internet did not necessarily translate
into a better news environment
Gatekeepers
Problematic issues with no gatekeeper and everyone
being able to participate
Slashdotcom
Online journalism site that relies on people to report
news
People submit news on the web, the editorial staff
selects the best news, posts them, and allows them to
comment online
Works great until Trolls arrived on the site
Gatekeepers
iReport and Steve Jobs
Report posted that Steve Jobs
had heart attack
False, but reported anyway
Described as a failure of open
systems
iReport tagline: “Unedited.
Unfiltered. News.”
Is this really news? Are editors
even important?
Media Literacy
Act/process of accessing, analyzing, evaluating media
How bias and censorship effect message
Standards
Just the Facts
Avoid Hearsay
No irrelevant opinions
Plagiarism
Spelling and Grammar
Photographic Integrity
Self Integrity
Source Integrity
Professional Necessity
Degree ≈ certification
Promise
Codes
More like guidelines
Know ways of Industry
and have experience
Know legal repercussions
for unauthorized, untrue,
and illegitimate
information
Defamation: Libel, Lies, and
Slander… Oh My!
What is slander/libel
Libel
Slander
Why not more cases of libel are common
Not worth it
Even if one can prove the veritable nature of the claim, little will be rewarded for the
plaintiff,
• However libel suit to journalist = distrust. Also, a journalist almost never
recovers if facts are made up
Other legal issues
Liability for unlawfully acquired information
Inciting risky behavior
Copyright infringement
Confidential sources
 CAN CAUSE PROF. JOURNALISTS TO CENSOR MORE IN FEAR OF
PROSECUTION
Censorship and Realism
“Objectivity as an ethical touchstone, as one of my sources said, is faltering in
mainstream journalism. It doesn't provide the kind of guidance and direction that it
once did…. Problems of finding a believable voice keep growing in mainstream
journalism, and this is related to the shift in power.” --Jay Rosen, Associate professor
of journalism at NYU, author of journalism blog Pressthink.org
Some places known for taking sides
Against Journalist Codes
Jeremy Glick v. Bill O’Reiley: ~2:38 YouTube example
“Some People Say” YouTube example
Problems with sources
Incident with CNN Reporter
Controversial CNN Reporter Takes A Vacation
Misleading Info. & Alterations
Factcheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org)
Site that shows what mass media is showing compared to what the real facts are
Brought by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenburg Public Policy Center;
Project of theirs
SourceWatch.org and PR Watch.org
Same idea
Like Wikipedia  do have ground rules
sourcewatch.org
Photo editing
photopocus.com--photo retouching and manipulation
Dartmouth--George W. Bush
Creates distrust especially today with Photoshop as well as people who know
how to use it
Some magazines who doctor photos put in disclaimer to avoid prosecution
Anybody can do this, though; not just magazines
Orange Rainbow
Concluding Education &
Credibility
“One of the most powerful and enduring raps on mainstream
media is that it identifies too much with the people and
institutions it cover and too little with the readers who pay good
money for subscriptions.” Coverage of airlines, banks, and
casinos—all of which is habitually more concerned with corporate
earnings than customer service—epitomizes that trend. “The
trick,” Johnston wrote, “is a change in perspective” that reframes
the news around audiences, rather than sources.”
~Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism
Review
Citizen Journalism (in essence)
Citizen journalism has been around since
communication began
Technologies have and will continue to allow citizen
journalism to develop and become even more prevalent
in society
Issues of credibility and mediation remain unsolved
Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional Journalism
Which do you prefer?
“Bibliography”
(Online Sources)
http://www.delicious.com/rwang
http://www.delicious.com/bboze
http://www.delicious.com/afalkner
“Bibliography”
(Offline Sources)
Carpenter, Serena. "How Online Citizen Journalism Publications and Online
Newspapers Utilize Objectivity Standard." Journalism & Mass Communication
Quarterly 85.3 (2008): 531-542.
Harper, Christopher. "Journalism in the Digital Age." Democracy and the New
Media Ed. Henry Jenkins, David Thorburn. Cambridge: 2003. 271-280.
Henry, Neil. American Carnival: Journalism under siege in an age of New Media.
Berkley: University of California Press, 2007.
Pavlik, John. Journalism and new media. New York: Columbia University Press,
2001.
Regan, Tom. "Newspaper failures are old news. Time to focus on solutions."
Christian Science Monitor 12 Mar. 2009: 16.