Citizen Journalism Essay -- Analysis, Joan Cornell

Joan Cornell notes that the Internet democratizes the journalism which was in the hand of the few people (2003). The Internet makes the public access to information; at the same time, it creates the public to be journalists, opening blogs to put something new around on the Internet. Many news websites like The Guardian, the Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC allows some personification. The journalism nowadays is facing challenges not only from media and technology convergence, but also from audience they serve (Bowman and Willis 2003). For example, in MSNBC’s my MSN part, one can post news by yourself. While the audience are participating in the process of journalism with the aid of the Internet, it cannot be neglected by mainstream media. The personification does not just mean service customised, but also more perspectives are evolved in the news event, as noted by Watts Wacker (2002). Many media sites online have been founded with different aims mentioned, but their appearance demonstrates that the age of we media comes. OhmyNews International (OMNI), originating from Korea, defines itself as international journalists (OhmyNews online site). OMNI is a bit different from OhmyNews, because it concentrates more on reporting citizen journalism, which is more like guidance for people to get a better understanding about citizen journalism. They treat themselves as a bridge between media and Internet, where the ordinary can participate in conversations about news and trust the source of news. Even though creating a platform for the ordinary to be provide news, they need to obey the rule of journalism: that is to state clear the source of news and make sure the credibility. Besides the ordinary, curators are recruited to post news about ... ...ernative to mainstream journalism, but can never replace it. With the emergence of citizen journalism, traditional journalism can develop in the environment of more competitors and watchdogs. It is undeniable that citizen journalism is rising as another forceful power in the media industry. With democratization of traditional media, interactivity and watchdog as its characteristics, citizen journalism treats itself as new journalists. Citizen journalism makes news making process transparency, namely available to all. Right now, no one can predict the position citizen journalism in the media industry in the future, but in this changing environment as online journalism is becoming essential, citizen journalism can play an alternative role for the public to access news. What is more important is that it drives the public to actively select news and judge the news.