Communicatio South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research Citizen journalism as a contestant in the history of journalism (original) (raw)
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An exploration into the impact of citizen journalism on traditional journalism in Lesotho
Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies
In recent years, technological advancement in communication has given citizens opportunities to be recipients and purveyors of news. Social networking sites propagate citizen journalism, wherein ordinary citizens without professional training gather and disseminate information. This has presented a number of challenges due to limited quality control standards for determining what constitutes news. The study thus sought to establish the depth and breadth of the impact of citizen journalism on traditional journalism in Lesotho. The study used the qualitative methodology embedded in a case study design. The in-depth face-to-face interviews with (n=10) journalists were conducted to get insight into the impact citizen journalism has on traditional media. The respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique. In this case, respondents were selected based on their availability and knowledge of the subject at hand. The findings were analysed using thematic analysis to interpret...
Interrogating citizen journalism practices: a case study of the Iindaba Ziyafika Project
Several scholars note that citizen journalism in the West is essentially an online phenomenon driven by the affordability of internet technologies. In Africa projects such as Ushahidi in Kenya have been enabled by platforms such as cellphones and social networks. Voices of Africa, based in Southern Africa, publishes on the web only. Publishing on the internet presumes a citizenry which is relatively well-educated, has familiarity with, and access to, the new media as a form of social communication, and is confident in their right to participate in newly-developed public spheres, particularly those online. In Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, the citizen journalists recruited to work for the Iindaba Ziyafika (“the news is coming”) project attached to the community newspaper Grocott’s Mail, came from a community in which there is 70% unemployment, poor schooling, and a lack of basic facilities such as running water, indoor sanitation, and electricity. In the interests of understanding whether citizen journalism could work in such an impoverished context with little access to the internet, this project was selected for research and the working practices of these journalists investigated. This research is therefore useful given that the social situation of Grahamstown might produce a different kind of practice than that exhibited by other citizen journalists in different parts of the world.
Introduction: The ethical gaze The advent of the Internet and social media has arguably opened up and democratized journalism as a social and professional practice. Most recently, newer online and mobile phone practices, variously referred to as “citizen journalism”, “participatory journalism”, “citizen-generated media”, “unfiltered journalism”, “hyperlocal journalism”, “networked journalism” and “grass-roots journalism”, have entered the journalism landscape, albeit constituting themselves mainly as subaltern, deprofessionalized, deinstitu- tionalized and radical counterhegemonic spaces (Allan, 2013; Atton, 2002; Gillmor, 2006; Moyo, 2014). Over time, these practices have crystalized around the term “citizen journalism”, identified by the leading alternative and digital media scholars as: (a) journalism that is often associated with narratives of the ordinary people; (b) journalism that is often associated with crises, be it social, political or even environmental; (c) journalism that is shaped by the history and society in which in obtains (Allan, 2013; Atton, 2002; Gillmor, 2006). This chapter attempts to extend this characterization of citizen journalism by focusing on the ethical dimensions of the practice. Most academic work on citizen journalism has ignored this aspect, as focus has mainly been on its affordances in opening up journalism and creating a voice for the marginal- ized classes. However, some scholars and practitioners have focused on the subject of ethics, albeit indirectly, so criticism is mostly implied and rarely explicit. Most have tended to be critical of citizen journalism as a grossly irresponsible and dangerous practice in news production and dissemination 34 PROOF (Grant, 2007; Keen, 2007; Safran, 2005). Citizen journalism is perceived as “amateurish”, “phony” and a “bad imitator” of mainstream journalism (Hogg, 2009). Most significantly, other critics have even contested the view that citizen journalism merits being referred to as journalism. They contend, “we are all citizens, but not all of us are journalists” (Safran, 2005, p. 3). A good and caring neighbour, they caution, is not a citizen social worker, just as someone who helps to dose flames in a neighbour’s house gutted by fire does not walk away a proud citizen firefighter (Simon, 2009). Interesting as this may sound, it is clear that the debate on citizen journalism ethics has not only been about the norms and values of the profession, but also about ownership and control of the journalism profession (Singer and Ashman, 2009). The debate on ethics is also tied to a power struggle where ethics have been used to delimit the boundaries of who is accepted or rejected with regard to practising journalism. The “label journalist and who is entitled to use it is a prominent site of [power] contestation [in the debate]” (Campbell, 2014, p. 5). Missing in the debate is a positive constructivist critique of jour- nalism’s demotic turn, where citizen journalism ethics are seen as definitive of a new journalistic practice that, while at times converging with main- stream journalism, may actually constitute an entirely new philosophy of the practice. This chapter breaks away from the negative critique by endeavouring to construct a moral and ethical characterization of citizen journalism on its own terms. It argues for an ontological critique of citizen journalism ethics where the practice is not always judged in relation to the moral taboos of mainstream journalism. It perceives most of the negative characterizations of citizen journalism ethics as not only misplaced, but also based on crit- ics who hide the fact that their locus of enunciation is actually mainstream journalism itself. As the reader shall see in the section on citizen journalism criticism what is often presented as an objective ontological critique of citi- zen journalism ethics is actually subjective criticism that is informed by the interests, norms and values of mainstream journalism as, if you like, a brand that feels threatened at many levels. The chapter’s main arguments on citizen journalism ethics are empirically grounded on the Zvakwana–Sokwanele case study from Zimbabwe. Ancillary cases from Africa from the so-called Arab Spring are also used to broaden the scope.
Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 2022
This study examined what could be the perception of Imo State based mainstream journalists on citizen journalism.The democratic-participant media theory was used as the theoretical foundation. The survey research approach was employed in the study. 180 registered journalists in Owerri formed the population and due to the manageable size of the population the census principle was adopted. The questionnaire was used to gather data. The instrument was face validated. The analysis was done using percentages and the hypothesis was done using SPSS statistical tool. Findings revealed that at an average of 59 percent respondents perceived citizen journalism as not reliable when it comes to source of information for news; citizen journalists are not well dispose to carry out journalism job properly and that citizen journalists do not consider truth, fact etc before publishing. Also on the average 54.4 percent result confirmed that among professional journalists citizen journalism is nothing to write home about and hence they do not accept it in carrying out their own job of journalism. It was recommended that citizen journalists should be trained on the journalistic ethical guidelines so that they will know the implications of flouting journalistic guiding principles and that professional journalists should endeavour to keep maintaining their practice of scrutinizing news coming from citizen journalism so that their integrity will not be under question.
2014
"""Allan (2009) argues that citizen journalism is difficult to define. He contends that definitions are not only socially and historically contigent, but also very much a political act. His argument on the danger of a singular and linear characterisation of citizen journalism is not only revealing, but also underscores three major points about what appears to be the main crosscutting elements in the crystalisation of this nascent practice in different spaces and places: (a) that it is often associated with narratives of the ordinary people (b) it is also usually associated with crises, be it social, political, or even environmental, (c) it is shaped by the history and society in which in obtains. In concurrence, Atton (2002: 267) asserts that indeed citizen journalism appears to be about “a set of practices that are embedded within the everyday lives of citizens” (Atton, 2002:267). Citizen journalism seems to “capture something of a countervailing ethos of ordinary person’s capacity to bear witness [especially during a social or political crisis]” (Allan, 2009: 18). Building on these perspectives based on a specific historical moment in Zimbabwe, this chapter characterises citizen journalism as an alternate or subaltern space and practice where the civic virtues and freedoms of ordinary people in authoritarian regimes find expression. Citizen journlism practices imply a paradigm shift from citizenship as just political membership based on a codification of rights and responsibilities to citizenship as a discursive, deliberative, dialogic, and transformative space and identity. To that degree, citizen journalism recasts citizenship as a practice of freedom and a medium of communication that allows ordinary people to tell their stories free from publishing monopolies."
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE JOURNALISM IN SUB- SAHARAN AFRICA
2021
In sub-Saharan Africa, Fojo Media Institute and five other organisations are jointly promoting independent journalism and protecting the space for civil society organisations and human rights defenders. Bringing together academics and researchers in four universities in South Africa and Sweden, this project is part of the project: Consortium to Promote Human Rights, Civic Freedoms and Media Development (CHARM) project. The main objective is to introduce the concept of sustainable journalism, define what the concept could entail in a sub-Saharan context and investigate the implications for media development in sub-Saharan Africa. Stakeholder discussions were held with relevant media actors in four countries within sub-Saharan Africa on the subject matter. The findings, which provide clear policy directions, are shared in this report.
A Comparative Study of Conventional Journalism and Citizen Journalism Practices in Nigeria
Adeleke University Journal of Business and Social Sciences (AUJBSS) , 2023
Advancements in new forms of information and communications technologies have continued to transform content, nature, and style of writing for the media. This study examines conventional and citizen journalism practices using a comparative analysis. The objective of the study was to do a comparative analysis of conventional and citizen journalism practices and to examine the extent of usage of gate-keeping by both conventional and citizen journalists regarding fake news dissemination. The theoretical underpinnings of this study are the Technological Determinism Theory and the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM). The study adopts the comparative research design. Information was sourced from secondary sources. Based on observation and relevant information gathered from secondary sources of data, the study concludes that new information and communications technology have shaped the media ecology or environment in innumerable ways. These dynamics have introduced a new concept known as "citizen journalism"-a new form of journalism. This new form of journalism is distinct from the highly guided and rule-based conventional journalism and due to lack of gate-keeping and code of ethics is inveigled with fake news and misinformation. The study, therefore, recommends that government should develop a functional regulatory framework to regulate the social media platform to ensure sanity in the digital media landscape as the media functions not in isolation but functions within the framework of a given society.
IMPLICATIONS OF NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THE INTERPLAY OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM ON TRADITIONAL JOURNALISM PRACTICE, 2024
The rise of digital media, from blogs to social media, has significantly altered the means of mass communication. This study examines the new media technologies, the interplay of citizen journalism and the implications on traditional journalism practice while technological determinism was used to make meaning of the phenomenon. The study adopts a qualitative approach, using in-depth interview method with interview guide for data collection. Ten journalists were purposively selected from a total population of thirty print and broadcast correspondents representing various media organisations in Osun State, using a convenient sampling technique. The various themes that emerged from the interviewees were thematically analysed. The study finds out that citizen journalism, occasioned by new media technologies, has far-reaching implications on the traditional media and society. It also finds out that the traditional journalists and their organisations by extension actively take advantage of the new media technologies to improve news gathering, processing and reporting. The study concludes that citizen journalism offers professional and non-professional journalists alike opportunities to be active participants in news content creation. It also suggests that there should be a policy framework for the regulation of new media because of the unprofessional conducts of citizen journalists and disregard for legal and ethical standard.