Definition of Citizen Journalism

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Understanding what the term means.

History of Citizen Journalism: Provides a background on the evolution of citizen journalism, including its origins and major milestones.
Principles of Journalism: Introduces the fundamental principles of journalism, including accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, and fairness.
Citizen Journalism Vs Traditional Journalism: Compares and contrasts citizen journalism with traditional journalism, highlighting the key differences.
Tools and Techniques of Citizen Journalism: Explores the various tools and techniques utilized by citizen journalists, including social media, blogs, podcasts, and video streaming.
Ethics of Citizen Journalism: Discusses ethical issues related to citizen journalism, such as invasion of privacy, defamation, and plagiarism.
Legal Issues in Citizen Journalism: Highlights the legal aspects of citizen journalism, including copyright, libel, and freedom of speech.
Citizen Journalism and Digital Media: Examines the influence of digital media on the growth and popularity of citizen journalism.
Benefits and Challenges of Citizen Journalism: Evaluates the benefits and challenges of citizen journalism, including its impact on democracy, media diversity, and accountability.
Role of Citizen Journalism in Society: Discusses the role of citizen journalism in shaping public opinion and providing a platform for voices that are often marginalized by mainstream media.
Future of Citizen Journalism: Speculates on the future of citizen journalism, including new trends and emerging technologies that are likely to influence its evolution.
User-generated Content: User-generated content refers to any content (e.g. text, photos, videos) produced by individuals who are not professional journalists but contribute to the reporting of news events.
Participatory Journalism: This type of journalism involves public participation in the creation of news content. This can include feedback, commentary and sharing of information through social media channels.
Community Journalism: Community journalism refers to the reporting of news and events at the local level. The focus is on issues that matter to a particular community or neighbourhood.
Crowdsourced Journalism: Crowdsourced journalism involves the use of a large network of individuals to contribute to the reporting of a story. This can include collecting information, verifying facts and producing content.
Civic Journalism: Civic journalism is a type of journalism that focuses on citizen engagement and involvement in public issues. It aims to create a more informed and active citizenry.
Open Journalism: Open journalism refers to the use of open source technology and collaboration tools to create news content. This can include sourcing and verifying news, as well as the dissemination of news content.
Guerrilla Journalism: Guerrilla journalism is a form of journalism that involves taking an unorthodox approach to reporting news. This can include using hidden cameras, undercover investigations and other tactics to expose hidden truths.
Mobile Journalism: Mobile journalism involves the use of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) to create and distribute news content. It enables journalists to report from the field in real-time.
Blogging: Blogging involves the creation of a web log or online journal, where individuals can publish their views, opinions and news stories. It has become an important platform for citizen journalism.
Quote: "Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens 'playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information.'"
Quote: "Courtney C. Radsch defines citizen journalism 'as an alternative and activist form of news gathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but is driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism'."
Quote: "Jay Rosen offers a simpler definition: 'When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another.'"
Quote: "The underlying principle of citizen journalism is that ordinary people, not professional journalists, can be the main creators and distributors of news."
Quote: "Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, both of which are practiced by professional journalists."
Quote: "New media technology, such as social networking and media-sharing websites, in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular telephones, have made citizen journalism more accessible to people worldwide."
Quote: "Notable examples of citizen journalism reporting from major world events are, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, the 2013 protests in Turkey, the Euromaidan events in Ukraine, and Syrian Civil War, the 2014 Ferguson unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement."
Quote: "Being that citizen journalism is yet to develop a conceptual framework and guiding principles, it can be heavily opinionated and subjective, making it more supplemental than primary in terms of forming public opinion."
Quote: "Critics of the phenomenon, including professional journalists and news organizations, claim that citizen journalism is unregulated, amateur, and haphazard in quality and coverage."
Quote: "Furthermore, citizen journalists, due to their lack of professional affiliation, are thought to lack resources as well as focus on how best to serve the public."