By: MERCEDITA DE JESUS
New media technology brought the development of a variety of online internet platforms and a large number of netizens trying their skills to be news bloggers and vloggers. From the simple uploading of videos and reporting of news from their own surroundings, they make use of their personal websites and social media accounts to publish their content. They then became threats to the professionals in the field of journalism.
As defined, these informal journalists are those who report news events and post video features using the internet to spread their collection of information and news. Sometimes, they have little background in journalism or none at all. Thus, a new breed of journalists was born and is now referred to as the “citizen journalists”.
Citizen journalism is more accessible to people because of the use of modern cellular telephones despite it being tagged as unregulated, amateur, low quality and lacking censorship. Writers and reporters are often criticized as journalists without professional training and use modern technology tools in creating, publishing and distributing as much content as they want, whenever and wherever they want. Pictures, videos and stories are uploaded online in just a matter of minutes which are viewed easily because of technology and faster internet facilities.
Even the legitimate media companies now hire their own field reporters from where the event is actually happening. Before, they have their experienced reporters sent to the site, but now, citizens took over and they are the ones who are reporting the news.
These citizen journalists have already invaded the field of professional journalism and the traditional way of reporting. The majority of them did not graduate from any related course but are only armed with a camera, a smartphone, good writing skills and one or more social media accounts.
They could produce and publish newsworthy articles written from their own perspectives. They could influence people with their opinions and criticisms especially on the topics that are most discussed such as politics, social problems and personalities. News websites proliferated and the citizen journalists used different types of media such as audio or video publication, photos and articles and immediately share their creation. Blogs and vlogs are followed by the public who long for a variety of topics. These bloggers and vloggers are sometimes a “one-man team” because they can shoot, write, edit and publish by themselves alone. They have their social media accounts that help them tremendously in publishing their creative products and many of them clicked and became famous influencers and raked money from the advertisers.
There are also “accidental reporters” who became instant hits and became viral because of the news they reported in the absence of the media reporters. It happened that they were there first while the newsworthy event is taking place. These could be a crime scene, a natural calamity, a disaster, a riot or a presence of a known personality. They then became the first-hand contributor to the news.
Citizen journalists are also regarded as spotlight reporters, giving new perspectives and impact on news events. More often than not, they too, become sources of fresh information of the mainstream media. Although regarded as not professional when it comes to their backgrounds, because of their talents and skills, they are being admired by the public. They are now being trained in fact-checking, becoming more educated and skilled with their crafts, and little by little, seriously practicing journalism ethics.
This newfound public acceptance comes also with great social responsibility. Those who are apparently accessible and easily disseminate information, issues and opinions, should also be credible and trustworthy. They should empower the community. The future of alternative media is in the hands of citizen journalists. The more they become skilled, educated, trusted and ethical, the more they become the inspiration of society.