Definition For A Citizen Journalist

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Articles by Trace Sharp
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Ron Sylvester finds a very good definition for a citizen journalist:

The business of big media is watching their stocks fall, while watching the rise of citizen journalists. But what is a citizen journalist, and what makes them different from professional journalists. Even SPJ, the largest organization of professional journalists, struggles for that definition.
Serena Carpenter gives the best one I’ve seen:
“An individual who intends to publish information meant to benefit a community.”

That just about wraps it up perfectly.

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Tags: Citizen Journalism, news, Online Media

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3 Comments

  1. Paul Chenoweth said January 23, 2009 | Permalink

    I think it is a good start for a definition. To me, that sounds more like the definition for a ‘citizen broadcaster’ or ‘citizen voice’. I would expect someone who accepts the label of ‘citizen journalist’ to acknowledge responsibility/accountability for ethics, accuracy, and fairness.

    This is a discussion that needs to see more daylight.

  2. Trace Sharp said January 23, 2009 | Permalink

    That’s a very good point, Paul. I like the way your thinking.
    Citizen Journalist really is to broad a term because there are rules. And anyone that considers themselves a citizen journalist needs to understand the huge responsibility that goes with it.
    That’s one of the biggest complaints I here from established journalists regarding blogging.

  3. Scott Adcox said January 23, 2009 | Permalink

    I figured out pretty early on when blogging about local news that:

    1) I’m (barely) qualified to talk about my own personal accounts and opinions
    2) I don’t want the responsibility that comes with being a journalist, so even those personal accounts and opinions need to be carefully considered before I put them out there for everyone to read.

    I am not (and don’t want to be) a citizen journalist. :)

    It’s called a “profession” for a reason–the people that practice it are professionals at it.

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