CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Citizen Journalism is giving us unprecedented documentation of life-changing events. Thanks to the invention of the smartphone, nearly everyone in the world walks around with a camera and video recording device in their pocket at all times. Not only this, but they have the ability to instantly broadcast anything they capture to a worldwide audience.  Janey Gordon (2007) discusses the implications of this trend in relation to three case studies; the SARS outbreak (2003), the Sumatra-Andaman Tsunami (2004) and the London Bombings (2005). Gordon (2007) covered the different ways in which citizens used their mobile phones these situations but I find one use in particular very exciting; the new-found ability to capture incredible images as they’re happening and instantly show the world.

Last year, a devastating tsunami hit the north-eastern coast of Japan. A collection of the most amazing amateur footage was immediately uploaded to YouTube and watched by millions. These videos showed the approaching wave followed by the incredible destruction. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter went crazy with updates and messages. Citizen journalists reported every second of this disaster to the world. Clay Shirky (2009) discusses this in relation to the earthquake in China. Like the Tsunami, ordinary people were recording the event as it was happening. BBC even found out about the earthquake from twitter which I found quite funny.

The reason I find citizen journalism so exciting is that years from now, when children want to learn about the Tsunami that hit Japan way back in 2011, they will have access to a ridiculous amount of information; news reports, photos, videos and comments from people who actually were there will be at their fingertips. There will be no more assumption in future history lessons. Imagine if this technology was invented earlier; we would probably know who shot JFK, Tupac and Biggie. Just food for thought. Thanks for reading.

Peace

References

Gordon, Janey (2007), The Mobile Phone and the Public Sphere: Mobile Phone Usage in Three Critical Situations, Convergence 13/3 Pages: 307-319.

Shirky, Clay (2009) How cellphones, Twitter, Facebook can make history

Image sourced from: cybersoc.com