The Power of Journalists decentralised?

‘… when major events occur, the public can offer us as much new information as we are able to broadcast to them. From now on, news coverage is a partnership.’ This was said by Richard Sambrook and he was also quoted on the BBC website.

The concept of citizen journalism has forcefully gotten most professional journalists off their comfortable chairs in the newsroom and caused them to take note.  This is especially true for print media. Gone are the days where you read yesterdays news today. When there is a press conference or an important news event happening anywhere in the world, people no longer have to wait for reports to come out in the morning edition of the paper or the evening news.  The power is now in the beholder of a smartphone or the simplest camera.  The public can now tweet or facebook about news as they unfold. 

This phenomenon has however caused quite a stir in the industry, many people have praised the rise of citizen journalism and others have condemned and questioned the credibility of the content.  New media has become a threat to newspapers but it is not entirely bad.  When the power to report is in the hands of the public you’re serving you burst open your horizon.   You’re no longer dependant on a few sources but on many, though you cannot control when and how the news is disseminated.  Yes, newspaper readership and circulation has declined drastically over the years which as a result knocks the profit and caused the increase in advertorials in newspapers.  But one would argue that such is the nature of all types of businesses.  There will come a time when threats occur in the form of competition and you face the danger of either upgrading or being irrelevant and eventually out of business.  I feel that people who are strongly opposed to citizen journalism do not have the interests of the public as a priority. 

A simple definition of News according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary is ‘new information about something that has happened recently.  Citizen Journalism cripples the monopoly in the hands a few news publications that determine what is newsworthy for consumers as well as agenda setting.   If one fails to realise that through new media people are able to communicate stories that affect them directly and in a language that they understand best than it is safe to question their motives for being in the industry. 

Richard Sambrook as quoted above states that from now on, news coverage is a partnership. And so it should be. Citizen Journalism allows media practitioners to know what interests the public, joins communities and gives professionals news from the reader’s point of view.