Citizen Journalism/Reporting

Citizen journalism/reporting is when members of the public actively engage in a process of collective discovery, problem solving, and information sharing on events, issues, and trends through various online forums and digital mobile technologies. Citizen journalists use the same tools as traditional journalists but avoid gatekeepers, such as editors and publishers. This allows independent, unfil-tered, and decentralized information in the form of stories, pictures, and videos to quickly and directly reach the public. Although there is debate on whether citizen journalists/reporters are equal to traditional journalists/reporters, they are increasingly becoming noticed by organizations, government entities, and traditional media as a force that can inform the public and influence public opinion. By including, engaging, and partnering with citizen journalists, public relations professionals can utilize them as critical sources of information as well as extend the reach and influence of their message.

Citizen journalism's prevalence has increased due to access and use of online and mobile communication technologies, such as weblogs, social media, Internet, cell phones, and digital cameras that allow them to potentially have global reach and influence. Citizen journalists see themselves as filling a vital gap in traditional journalism by allowing the public to serve as active consumers and producers of information through dynamic, democratic, and grassroots conversations. Citizen journalists can provide local, real-time, firstperson perspectives of news and events that traditional journalists sometimes cannot cover due to shrinking staffs and budgets. They also can serve the same watchdog function of traditional journalism by monitoring, investigating, and commenting on what corporations, government institutions, and even the media are doing, or not doing, and saying.

Some question whether citizen journalists are equal in credibility, accuracy, and professionalism to traditional journalists. Critics cite lack of education or training in journalism techniques, the reporting of rumors, and the idea that any citizen who posts something online is a reporter. Those who argue for citizen journalism reason that they gain credibility through consistent reporting, accuracy, and transparency of sources and methods, have the benefit of community engagement and self-policing to quickly confirm or correct information, and agree that not all online citizen posts are journalism, but some can engage in the act of journalism. Organizations are recognizing the potential influence of citizen journalists by giving them the same access to organizational events and media briefings as traditional journalists. Organizations and media outlets are reaching out to them to provide critical and uncensored information when members or reporters don't have immediate access to an area or in-depth knowledge of an issue. Examples of this include blogging about tornado, flooding, or wildfire damage to a community; real-time updates on information and resources available; and the civil uprisings of the 2011–2012 Arab Spring.