Rosen defines citizen journalism as, “The people, formally known the audience, employ(ing) the press tools in their possession to inform one another”. I am inclined to agree with his definition, though in my eyes, not everybody who utilizes press tools (video phones, multimedia stories, photographs, etc) is classified as a ‘citizen journalist’. Uploading a video of an event to social media does not constitute citizen journalism; citizen journalists employ press tools and apply them to create a story that fills in any gaps that previous reports may not have done.
Whilst citizen journalism and publishing of UGC has become more prevalent in recent years with the introduction of smart phones, the audience has not become the producer. The audience works in conjunction with traditional media outlets and journalists, and they fill the gaps they perceive in the story. This allows for the shift of power through distribution from the major media and gives the public control over what news is disseminated. This is shown in cases such as Ferguson and the Arab Springs. Citizens are empowered to report on what is occurring, and work hand-in-hand to distribute their ‘truth’ to the greater news audience.
User Generated Content (UGC) has become increasingly prevalent in the media ecosphere in recent years as social media has become more popular as a news distribution method. With this progression, User Generated Stories (UGS) have surfaced as a source of information, though with not as much ferocity as UGC.
Although social media is a popular source of online news, it is not always entirely accurate. UGS will work hand-in-hand with traditional news stories to aid their distribution throughout the world. UGS can develop a well-rounded view of a current news issue and give the viewer/reader an opportunity to express their opinions and views which may be different to those that media are portraying. This is being shown currently in Ferguson, Missouri, where civilians on the ground are posting content that depicts a different view of the events to that being depicted in the media.
There is a place for crafted UGS in the media ecosphere. As the relationship between UGC and UGS develops it will grow into a more sophisticated method of news distribution. Social media and interactive news websites will become the outlet for these stories. UGS and traditional journalism will always work closely together, as they will regulate each other’s content and will ensure that UGS are kept at a consistent, high quality level.
The old models of journalism are slowly but surely dying off. In a time where news is constantly changing and the demand for up-to-date stories becomes greater, maintaining a print newspaper and paying for costs of printing, paper and distribution is an exercise in futility.
With more and more people turning to online websites, the cost of distributing print newspapers is hard to justify. In Quinn’s 2009 article The Future of Journalism, it states that ’seventy cents in each dollar’ of American newspapers expenses went towards paper, printing, distribution and corporate expenses, whilst only 14 per cent went towards generating content. With no print expenses to speak of, online news outlets therefore can provide more focus onto the content they produce.
The print newspaper is not dying off as quickly in developing countries, such as India. With a broadband penetration rate of only 3.7 per cent (Quinn 2009), it is easy to suggest that there will continue to be an audience for print newspapers for many years to come. Eventually, however, as technology and broadband becomes more readily available, the younger generation will fall in line with their counterparts, and seek their news online.
In a survey conducted in March 2006, only two of the seventy-four surveyed university students said that they read or bought a newspaper on campus, despite a drive by the Age, the Herald Sun and the Australian for students to collect free newspapers after buying a card for $20 (Quinn, 2009).
The younger generation have become accustomed to readily available and constantly up-to-date news accessed via smart phones, tablets, the web, etc. Print news outlets have been pushed aside by these websites and apps; there will not be a reversion back to the time before ‘instant’ news. The demand for immediate news stories will not die down.
The loyalty to print papers will eventually fade, and there will be no more 5pm deadlines. Journalists will be constantly on the job and updating stories as more information becomes available. The competition will be fierce as news sites fight to stay current. Journalists will work on the go, using smart phones, laptops or tablets. In order to stay relevant, they will need to be trained and capable in their uses. The old models of journalism will die off as news outlets fight to meet consumer demand by utilizing new forms of technology.
Journalism is the collection of relevant news and information that is then distributed in a beneficial way to an audience. Despite Woo’s likening of journalism to a duck (‘if it looks like journalism, it’s journalism’), there should be a certain amount of professionalism in regards to what is considered journalism. It is a bit of a smack in the face for professional journalists if anybody who posts content to YouTube or a blogging site can be considered a journalist.
Journalists have a responsibility to the public to release news that is impartial and objective. The media’s role as the fourth estate is to ensure those in power are held in complete accountability and to promote a public interest in the news they publish.
Journalists should be dedicated to free speech, yet some argue that their interest in this has been overtaken by the motivation of profit. The business of journalism – the focus on money and the search for a certain look or image for the media distributor – can impact on the original ideals of journalism. The influence of media ownership nowadays – when a papers image or message is of prime importance where print outlets are lacking – can raise questions of freedom of expression, censorship and the independence of a media outlet.
The competitive nature of media outlets, brought about by the focus on the business side of journalism, has taken the focus away from the prior journalist ideals and has diminished the role of the media as the Fourth Estate.
Convergence has changed the view of ‘traditional’ journalism completely. Most of our news is now readily available online instead of in print; in a society where online is the preferred method of accessing news stories, convergence has had a massive impact on the method that these news stories are presented, and on the journalists who write them.
With the changing setting of news publications, traditional journalists have discovered they need to be more versatile in what they can do in regards to their reporting, in order to keep themselves afloat in the journalism world. The convergence of once segregated news categories (broadcasts, print news, etc) has forced journalists to not only be writers, but also to film, photograph, edit and produce their own news stories.
The demand for up-to-date news stories has shifted in recent years from print newspapers to online sources. Journalists wishing to stay involved (and, in some cases, employed) with news production need to adapt and publish to where their largest readership base is.
Teamed with the increasing dependence on technology in the 21st century, journalists have to be influenced by the demand from the readers for converged news stories in order to stay relevant and current in a constantly updating world.
In a digital era, multimedia journalism has fast become the prevalent method of how news stories reach the public. The need for instant gratification and to be constantly up-to-date with fresh information on the latest news stories has led to the slow decline of print newspapers in favour of online news outlets.
News outlets such as The Age and the Herald Sun have swung their focus onto their online websites opposed to their print media as it is easier to keep updated, and they do not want to fall behind in a constantly changing news environment.
Multimedia news stories allow the reader to engage more with the story content; shorter paragraphs separated by visual and/or audio aides encourages the reader to absorb the information presented in the article, instead of skimming over big chunks of text in a typical print article.
Multimedia journalism can be told linearly at the discretion of the journalist/editor, yet most stories that include multiple multimedia elements are told in a non-linear fashion. Multimedia elements can provide context and depth to an article where a standard, linear layout may not be able to.
Rachel Young 