I found it interesting how Shirkey mentions that “the chance that someone with a camera will come across an event of global significance is rapidly becoming the chance that such an event has any witnesses at all. This is because I had previously taken some training on how to be an effective citizen journalist. It taught the basics of reporting and the importance of what is in the frame of the camera; mainly what the viewer’s point of view would be. I was glad that he mentioned it because it is very much true that many of us now own a cell phone with video recording capabilities and we should be ready to use it in a serious way when needed. I dont think I really need to give you a lesson but it’s apparent that people try their best to record newsworthy events and post it up online, usually to YouTube
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Eventually we will no longer make the distinction between “citizen” journalists and journalists proper. A lot of folks in journalism are already questioning that distinction as it privileges a certain, official type of journalism and suggests that real journalism is best left to professionals.
Along those lines, take a look at this: http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/index.php?q=journalistic_practice/wire_creator_david_simon_testi0719
Hmm… Dr. G, I wasn’t able to open the link. I also tried googling it and it wouldn’t open. Might be that the school computer is blocking the site. I can check again when I am at home.
And about citizen journalists, it might be that Professional Journalists strikes back just like Shirkey’s example about PickupPal. But with cameras everywhere, even professional news companies take in photo submissions of events that their reporters couldn’t cover.
It’s only a matter of time when someone makes a journalism app for smartphones(complete with photos, videos, audio, and written articles).
In 2009, the term crowdsourcing became ubiquitous and Twitter empowered anyone with a cell phone to report on his surroundings. I’ve picked a handful of stories from this year that mark triumphs in citizen journalism.