Today's class discussion on citizen journalism raised some really interesting points. Especially in regards to how to involve citizen journalists in situations such as the recent London riots. Christina raised the point that there seemed to be a lack of 'real' person story. That is, sufficient reports that justifiably ask the questions 'why is this happening' or for the rioters themselves 'why are you doing this’. This was a point that the majority of the class seemed to agree on, that distinguishes professional journalists from citizen journalists. When you think about good journalism, it is more than just what's happening. Really good journalists ask the hard hitting questions.
Another ‘hot’ topic was how to better involve citizen journalists in the public conversations. I still argue that professional institutions need to evolve and constantly adapt in order to keep up with the ever-growing field of communication and media studies. Rather than fear citizen journalism, embrace it because at the end of the day I don’t think it’s going to go away.
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