Citizen journalism is the spread of information through social media, usually followed by analysis and further sharing across the web. This can allow ideas to be more sensationalist, as it does not share the same impartiality of traditional journalism. However, it does seem to carry a sense of ambition that can be seen at the peak of traditional journalism, as it falls under less restriction and is created to entertain.
Despite being the backbone of several cultural movements, news-style journalism has fallen from its position in recent history. This can be attributed to both the regulations found in a regular office and the overwhelming amount of damage that the current political climate has done to its reputation.
Journalism has also come under fire multiple times. With the inception of Yellow Journalism back in the late 1890s, more and more regulation has come with the scrutiny of the public, only to be worsened by the decline of physical print at the start of the century. This leads to a rise in smaller websites and individuals starting blogs.
Citizen journalism can have a lot in common with non-fiction stories. It is often told with more flair and personality in order to make it resonate more emotionally with other people. This tends to leave many citizen journalists in the role of content creators.
Most importantly, content creation is entertainment, and is reliant on its readers relating to the story, as well as digesting the information. Often, it tries to sway the audience with opinionated dialogue and cinema-inspired commentary.
One of the biggest campaigns birthed from user-generated content was the viral sensation known as KONY 2012. The campaign was set up by a Los Angeles filmmaker Jason Russell, who had a run-in with a small militia known as the LRA (Lords Republic Army) while in Uganda. This showed him discovering a man named Joseph Kony and Russell created a video meant to inspire others to protest his various crimes. This film, simply named “KONY 2012” had exploded online, currently sitting at 102 million views.
The video itself often relied on emotional setpieces and grasped the viewers’ attention for 30 minutes, allowing for a wider reach and provided stronger support than a simple news story. When the movement was found online, supporting the movement was as simple as logging onto Twitter.
People are happier to be part of a movement when the entry fee is simply tweeting about it. Meaning terms like “slacktivism” can get thrown around and we can end up with what is known today as “outrage culture.”
Some things are improved by the online sphere and the ease at which it allows people to share information. Some example includes the infamous Eric Garner video, where a man was killed by police in broad daylight. Many people circulated the story via social media before it was officially reported on.
This is not to discount blogs or commentary channels, who will often offer opinionated stances on trending events. Despite the fact that these channels cannot be considered journalism, as they do not discover the events they talk about, it is certainly worth looking at the staggering numbers they bring in. With people like Philip Defranco and Joe Rogan amassing millions of viewers, it is easy to assume that most of the people hearing about the things they talk about are hearing about it for the first time.
While this is not to say that a YouTuber’s testimony can be seen as more reliable or even more effective for a healthy spread of information, it is clear this is the way that the world intends to move.
