…Seems that some in the established media are using fear tactics to convince people that citizen journalism is not a good choice for the future. One insider claims that people could get in “dangerous” situations, there’s scams & fraudsters out there, the media is just better, and the like. Sounds like he’s just protecting his job…
Today, I came across quite an interesting editorial over at the Philadelphia Inquirer – warning of the “dangers” of citizen journalism. Not surprisingly, it was written by someone who’s part of the industry. Larry Atkins teaches journalism at Temple University and Arcadia University. Here’s a few tidbits from his piece (and I don’t use that term lightly):
Benefits from citizen journalism include dramatic photos and videos that add insight to news events. After all, media outlets and their reporters can’t be everywhere. However, there are drawbacks and dangers that shouldn’t be ignored. For one thing, encouraging I-reports from disaster scenes, crime scenes, or natural-disaster areas could lead people seeking their 15 minutes of fame into dangerous situations. It is inevitable that future I-reporters will chase tornadoes or run toward police shootouts to get a better angle.
So argument #1 against citizen journalism is fear. If people go out and report on things (or just do things in general, I guess), they could get into “dangerous” situations. And, that appears to be something that’s bad, according to Larry. Interesting. Driving is “dangerous” too – should we leave that to the professionals? Wait, there’s more:
Other concerns are bias, conflicts of interest, and credibility. Some citizen journalists might submit reports to promote certain agendas. Of course, there is the potential for scams, fraud, and doctored photos and video. People might stage phony incidents. The fact-checking and source corroboration involved in mainstream media are usually absent from citizen journalism.
Either Larry thinks that professional journalists are of a higher moral standard, or this is yet another absurd argument. The reality is this: the marketplace weeds out bad journalism when it’s allowed to do so. You see, Larry, journalists report on other journalists. And, if some scam-artist blogger decided to start making up stories, they’d be outed pretty quickly by other reporters. The growth of this industry will bring an improvement to journalism as a whole – and yes, even to your sacred cow, the “mainstream media.” Well, it appears that Larry has a solution to the “problem” of someone like you getting too influential as a reporter:
To avoid these pitfalls, news outlets that solicit citizen journalists should set standards and issue warnings to safeguard amateurs. The Citizen Media Law Project, jointly affiliated with Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Center for Citizen Media, has been established to provide tools for citizen journalists. It plans to develop a legal guide that will cover insurance; privacy; access to meetings, records and property; and how to use freedom-of-information laws. ChiTownDailyNews.org plans to recruit and train 75 citizen journalists, one for each Chicago neighborhood, to work with editors to produce a daily news report.
Not much effort here. His solution is quite clear. Take independent journalists (at least the ones that the current media conglomerates like) and bring them into the fold. Still call them citizen journalists, but have them work for you, instead of competing with you. What a surprise. In closing, Larry gives his vision of the future:
Citizen journalism is a good thing, but it shouldn’t be viewed as the future of journalism, a substitute for professional reporting by established media. Citizen journalism should augment media coverage, not replace it.
Protectionism. Plain and simple. What “should” happen is whatever the consumers of media coverage want. If they’re happy with the established media, those businesses will grow and thrive – because that’s what the paying public wants. But, on the other hand, if the people are sick and tired of the established media, then they’ll go searching for something else. Just a casual look at the numbers will show that what’s happening is the latter. So, Larry, instead of protecting a future loser, maybe you should switch teams? You know, you could start teaching some great classes….like…”Citizen Journalism 101″
