Citizen journalism and hyper-reality

Examples

The natural disaster of the Asian Tsunami on December 26th 2004 is another example. Much of the early footage of events was provided from citizen journalists/

Citizen journalists use devices e.g phones to record live events and use the internet to post the content. Leading to certain videos becoming viral which can then be used for evidence depending on the scenario of the story

Rodney King. Brutally beaten by four Los Angeles police officers. Rodney King, an African American, who was in a high speed chase was tasered and then beaten with clubs. It was recorded by a onlooker from his apartment window and made prime time news and became and international media sensation. Racism was obviously being portrayed here by the officers and they were all charged. 

The news had dominated its stories at the time, it would create news and deliver it to a passive audience to consume and believe. Now, due to the rise of technology, audience members are no longer passive to news, but creating their own form of content. Audience have become the users, and the users have become the publishers. We are now in the era where UGC has now eroded the dominance of institution over audience members.

Receptive audience= an audience member that receives and consumes the news without having their own opinion and believing what is being shown to them

UGC= content created by audience members and spread around to the public, becoming creators of news content.
Power reversal= institutions have now lost some of the power to dominate the audience, as audience members can now voice their opinion using technological advances.

What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

Citizen journalist is someone who is not doing journalism as a career, and rather captures news/evidence in public and submits it for the whole world to see. The difference is, is that it is the public who do citizen journalism as anyone present at an event can capture moments and key details that can draw up concern for the government such as racism caught on streets etc.

What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?

One of the first examples of news being generated by 'ordinary people' is the case of Rodney King, who was a victim of police brutality. The event was filmed by an onlooker from their apartment window and made it to prime-time news, and led to the charges of four police officers.

List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.
One of most news organisations now include formats for participation such as message boards, chat rooms, Q&A, polls, have your says, and blogs with comments enabled. Social media sites are also built around UGC.

What is a gatekeeper?

A gatekeeper is someone who is in an organisation (preferably a news co-operation) who decides whether or not to publish a form of news that they have seen as well as preventing certain things to be broadcasted. They essentially prevent certain news, regardless of their content, to be viewed by audiences as they have other news that they deem to be more important. 

How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

Independent media on the web is the way to go around gate keepers. This is a system where UGC can be submitted and it can reach a niche audience, and often people who before thought they didn't have a voice, to now feel as if they do. 

What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

One of the primary concerns that journalists have over the rise in UGC content is that news corporations may decide to rely on citizen journalists to do the stories for them, as they don't have to pay them for their work, and it will cut down their costs. Journalists are afraid that their jobs may no longer exist as there are people doing their jobs for them.  

Offer your own opinion (critical autonomy) on the following:

What impact is new/digital media having on:

news stories

A wider variety of news is available than ever before. People are not restricted to a few pages of content, like traditional news papers did. They can see a whole range of stories and ones that are of best interest to the reader.

the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)

It is having a major impact on the news agenda. This is because online sites such as Twitter and Facebook may own a 'hot' news story that one of their users have broken out. This will become the 'hot' topic of the week, and it will influence news companies to get hold of that information and attempt to do their own news coverage in order to gain more readers.

the role of professionals in news

NDM is having more of a negative impact on professionals. This is because the internet allows their content to be published and shared around for free, and they are not getting paid for the work they done. This will appose a threat to this job position as the company wants to survive and to do so, they must cut down their costs such as employees.

Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance:

The article was written in 2009. Offer three examples of more recent social networking sites or uses of technology that support the idea of a 'digital renaissance'.

• Snapchat
• Instagram
• Twitter

This is because, on these sites, users can create there own perception on how they want to be viewed online. These three examples support the idea of the digital renaissance as users have the ability to communicate and interact with people of different cultures and they also develop their perception of cultures and society in the developed world. 

How do live streaming services such as Periscope or Facebook Live fit into the idea of a 'digital renaissance'? Are these a force for good or simply a further blurring of reality?

This means that what people see, is the reality of what is actually happening and there is very little, if any' editing actually being presented. This is more of reality than anything else. This is because the apps and services mentioned all have a key feature; being live. This is the difference that videos and these services have different. Services such as FB Live are showing the reality whereas videos have been edited and are not showing the reality of it.

How can we link the 'digital renaissance' to our case study on news? Is citizen journalism a further example of hyper-reality or is it actually making news more accurate and closer to real life?

Yes, to an extent the footage captured can be showing one side of the argument, however it is content which the viewer can relate to. Citizen journalism if anything, is making us a viewers/audience becoming closer to real life than ever before. It expresses the emotions which current news doesn't have, which is why news needs to be changed. It needs to feel more like 'news'. News is information that is informing the viewer on events and real life issues, however they need to express emotions and power, which is why news isn't as effective as it doesn't succeed in that prospect. Citizen journalism can really change the way news comes across the the audience/viewer.