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Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Week 3: Citizen Journalism/Journalism as a Public Conversation in the 21st Century

The topic in brief
Journalism in the past was seen as a way to communicate to the public about news from all over the world. There was minimal allowance for past news consumers to show concerns for the journalistic practices thus making newspapers deemed highly credible. Today, news consumers can also become news producers with the improvement in Information and Comunication Technologies (ICT). They are able to capture auditary and visual proofs to support their stories and even conduct extensive research over the internet to qualify their statements. Advocates of citizen journalism such as Chisholm (2006, p. 22 cited in Quinn & Lamble 2007) believe "the need to listen is greater than ever before". This can be attributed to the ability of news consumers to search for different perspectives on a certain issue using ICT in quick time instead of having to rationalise each article in their state newspapers for long periods of time. With the Internet providing free news, the role of newspapers is becoming desolate so if a newspaper wishes to survive, it needs to cater to the demands of its readers somewhat. However, critics of citizen journalism also point out that citizen journalism techniques do not necessarily help the public to understand the issues reported and the quality of engagement needed to render citizen journalism better than traditional journalism (McMasters 1997 cited in Romano & Hippocrates n.d.). Therefore, it is important to look at the educational and literacy level of a population and ascertain the level of public understanding of the media before lobbying for citizen journalism. When journalism is seen as a cultural practice, it will be easier to accommodate citizen journalists in mainstream media for their fellow citizens (Meadows n.d.).

In this week's seminar by Elisa and Joyce
Elisa and Joyce talked about a "Democratic Era Public" which describes the present state of Singaporeans whereby Singaporeans have become more interested in news media to the extent that some have embarked on satirical humour on Singapore politics. Given the literacy level in Singapore, it is not surprising to have increased interest in citizen journalism. There is room for creativity and flexibility in citizen journalism which traditional journalism do not often practice due to professional standards. However, the creativity and flexibility offered by citizen journalism questions the quality of journalism put across. Not everyone is rational enough to discern what is right or wrong especially when they lack the particular background knowledge. Plus, it is easier to trust the words of a fellow citizen without asking for evidences. This pits mainstream media against alternative ones. In comparing and contrasting those two types of news sources, there is a need to look at how differently each source carries out its responsibilities and role as a news provider. Elisa and Joyce proposed delivery as a main factor to look at in analysing them. They believe the way a news story is delivered depend on the relationships the source has with the government and publics. For example, a citizen journalist tend to deliver in a manner which relates to his fellow citizens through language and informality while the state newspaper journalist would have to be formal in conveying the government's message to the masses. Elisa and Joyce welcomed the idea of converging citizen journalism with mainstream journalism because it would promote a healthy public sphere according to the Habermas Structural Transformation. In my opinion, this ideal may not hold true for Singapore. What if the citizen journalists act as a front to make the Singapore government look good in terms of maintaining a democratic society?

There was a bit of confusion when Elisa and Joyce said the convergence can be made possible because players mentioned (the government, the alternative media, and the mainstream media) can have the same goals. Many people thought alternative media would have a different goal compared to the government. However, I think what they meant was both forms of media would want a healthy political environment for example. It is just the way they deliver and the perspectives they have are different.

Conclusion
Traditionally, the media acts as a gateway with its practitioners as gatekeepers. However, with the increasing popularity of alternative/citizen journalism, the traditional role of the media is challenged. This makes us reassess the definition of citizen journalism and the objectives and impact of agenda-setting.

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