Of all the recent advancements made in journalism, the ability for readers to instantly verify information is one of the most substantial. Unlike the traditional form of journalism where readers were expected to accept facts at face value, they are now able to locate information via the internet and instantly verify data. In doing this, readers are able to create a more two-way medium, where people are essentially taking part in journalism themselves. The website World Government Data allows England's public to instantly download government data in any realm of the news. Crime rates, environmental information and sports statistics are all available on a single website. This in a sense creates more accurate journalism that is essentially proofread not only by an editor, but potentially by the entire public. People are then more qualified to comment on stories and give feedback, causing a more conversational style of journalism to emerge.This conversational style of journalism is integral for bloggers, who otherwise have no editors, to back check and verify information. Without the ability for people to converse, bloggers are using their posts only as places to vent and give their opinion. In order for citizen journalists to be credible news sources, there must be verification from the public. Without open discussions occurring blogs become untrustworthy. But can the public actually be trusted to verify data? The Internet doesn't supply bloggers with angry bosses to break their knees if they step out of line, so how does one know which sites are written objectively?
It can also be noted that most popular bloggers earn credible reputations before they actually begin getting heavy traffic to their site. Most blogs aren't viewed by more than a handful of people, and don't display any links or data pertaining to the story. Regardless, blogs have been growing rapidly. This growth seems to make citizen journalists believe they are the modern and righteous journalists of today, attracting spite and hatred from the traditionalists who feel they are the way, the truth, and the light. It is an ongoing and treacherous battle; although, soon enough the relentlessness of technology will give everyone the ability to be journalists. With that said, there are times when citizen journalists are just as apt as paid journalists. Things like town hall meetings and novice hockey games are surely right up the alley of a retired high school teacher with a Nikon Coolpix camera.
The future likely holds a place for both citizen journalists and professional journalists, as there will always be certain stories that are impossible for bloggers to cover, and others that are just as easily covered by average citizens. It is important for citizen journalists to display the same objective and discussion-based reporting as the major media outlets in order to convey the news honestly. In the end, only someone with a known background will be looked toward for, say, insight on the war in Afghanistan or global politics.
Note: Image from Google Images.
Very good post. I am impressed. You provided a very well rounded point of view and presented the argument of citizen journalists versus trained journalists very well. The sentence structure is easy to read, and well crafted. The only issue I had was the last sentence in the first paragraph. Although it is grammatically correct, it could be worded in another way to make the sentence flow better with the rest of the post. Over all very good job.
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