Citizen journalism: A shifting paradigm and change in the power structure

Citizen journalism; the very name itself may sound like a contradiction to many, for in the traditional media consumption hierarchy, journalists and citizens (or consumers if you will) have been situated at opposite ends of the distribution cycle. One creates the other receives. There is little room for feedback apart from letters to the editor and call backs. Taking this into account the term itself is a contradiction and importantly a challenge to the existing paradigms and the distribution of power in the traditional media and transmission process.

In the decades preceding the current New Media environment in Australia we have seen the power and prestige of quality journalistic work and the media outlets that distribute them collected by imperialistic news corporations. Similar to the empire building days of old, these major corporations have selected the cream of the crop as far as journalistic talent with media outlets recruiting them under their respective banners.

Media empires forged, moguls created and fortunes made. Names such as the late Kerry Packer with his PBL Corporation and Rupert Murdoch with News Corporation spring to mind as fine examples of media barons, who have dominated the landscape.

These savvy businessmen acquired the majority of leading newspapers in metropolitan cities throughout Australia– resulting in debate over the concentration of media ownership and the diversity of the Australian media environment. The views of the powerbrokers were touted by the talented journalists working under the banners of these organizations. This quite often failed to present objectivity in the presentation of the news. For who can balance and maintain equality in the power that print media has of setting the agenda for national discussion if there is no independent forum in which opposing views can be presented on a large scale.

The crux of the issue is that technology has now evolved to enable citizen journalist to present their views to the general public via the internet. Thus slowly changing the power structure and giving consumers the opportunity to formulate their own opinions based on independent reports as opposed to those presented by the wall of concentrated media ownership. Citizen journalism can be the source for a more diverse media scene.

The need for an independent voice and a challenge of the power base was recognized since the conception of citizen journalism. Which is as Bruns (2008, 69) states the founding moment of citizen journalism was, “the coverage of protests surrounding the November 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Seattle.” From this point onwards citizen journalism has flourished providing the extra voice that perhaps was eager to be heard. It has gained a helping hand from the changing of the nature of the New Media environment. It represents the change in participatory culture and growing concept of networked people, which lead to a, “cultural shift as consumers where encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content” (Jenkins, 2006, 3).

This citizen journalism ties closely with notions of participatory culture and DIY media, with their journalistic output expressed through independent channels on the internet, free from potential bias from major news corporations and conservative media outlets that could be tied to particular political affiliations. So it can be seen that through the growth in the nature of participatory culture and built upon the convergence of the media in this digital age. Citizen journalism has the opportunity to be an independent voice in the media landscape dominated by the few. This notion of independent media has added to the convergence of cultures, with members of this citizen journalism ideal coming from all backgrounds, which proves to be a great merging and blurring of cultural lines and boundaries that have separated and previously defined journalism and the media.

If not more important however is the power shift – from contemporary media moguls and business empires into the hands of the everyday consumer. This is not to say that this is a perfect system, with doubts in some circles raised over the quality of the work of the journalist involved and the level of the coverage which they can achieve. However it helps immensely in the battle to disperse the influence of these media empires, giving a voice to everyday consumers, and battling against a culmination of media power in the hands of a few.

References


Bruns, A. (2008) News Blogs and Citizen Journalism: Perpetual Collaboration in Evaluating the News in Bruns, A, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage, New York: Peter Lang, pp. 69-100

Jenkins, Henry. (2006) Introduction: Worship at the Altar of Convergence in Jenkins, Henry, Convergence culture: When new and old media collide, New York: New York University, pp.1-24