[... Written in response to Dan Gillmor's recent Letter to the Bayosphere Community ...]
The Challenges of Citizen Journalism
Content
Although this may seem obvious, the proper selection, timing and staging of content is a delicate and complicated task. It is not random. Participatory journalism is still presumably journalism, and requires discipline of vision like any other worthwhile endeavor.
Passion
The fuel which drives any great work is passion for something, someone, some place, etc. Without this vital ingredient, inane and banal ramblings masquerade for the genuine article. It is precisely this form of passionless journalism which drives audiences away from mainstream media, in search of "something real."
Capability
We all have different skills, and not everyone is equally gifted in the art of expression. The challenge is to enable those who desire a voice but can't quite sing yet. This requires a drive to achieve and a submission to the discipline required to get there on the part of the would-be Citizen Journalist. In other words, one must become a "humble student" in order to truly learn anything of value, especially how to be a great journalist.
Credibility
Everyone has an opinion, sometimes more than one. However, not everyone has the depth of background and experience to offer valuable opinions which can add substance to a topic of discussion. Many popular journalists are cast, for better or worse, into a "pundit" role over the course of their years of covering specific topics with some depth. This doesn't mean we should ignore fresh new insights, but if those insights waste the audience's time by not providing value, then the whole effort is on shaky ground.
Accountability
Screaming "fire" in a crowded theatre is ok if there really IS a fire. However, anonymous "bomb throwers" who engage in so-called 'yellow journalism' destroy the overall integrity of a publication, not to mention open it up for libel and slander. Defamation is not a valid form of promotion, and accountability of reporting and reporters holds this problem in check, although it doesn't completely eliminate the more subtler forms.
Compensation
In most societies, "Time is Money" and Citizen Journalists, even fledgling ones, need to be properly compensated for their efforts if those efforts are to continue. Hobbies are just that: hobbies. In order to break through to a higher level of quality, there needs to be a fair system of compensation or the term "Citizen Journalist" will become synonymous with "Unemployed Journalist."
Leadership
The role of the editor should be emphasized here. Without editorial direction, guidance and oversight, it is hard to deliver a quality publication. Even high school yearbooks have editors, and online publications are no different. There are various editorial styles and orientations, but they all share common journalistic ethics which define and shape the publication. Without this editorial leadership, whether it is in the form of an editor-in-chief or an editorial staff, the publication in question may never see its second issue. Perhaps this is just editorial Darwinism at work.
Conclusions
Great journalism is hard ... sloppy journalism isn't really journalism at all. And Citizen Journalism is quite challenging!
Mark Twain (a.k.a Samuel Langhorne Clemens) on Journalism
From an address to the Connecticut Evening Dinner Club, 1881:
"... If you don't want to work, become a reporter. That awful power, the public opinion of the nation, was created by a horde of self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditch digging and shoemaking and fetched up journalism on their way to the poorhouse. ..."
This is a very well written and well thought out set of points that explain why the concept of citizens media will take a lot longer to become a full-fledged reality. And it will also likely come to exitst in a form that differs from the prevailing wisdom today says it will be.
Posted by: Jonathan Trenn | Monday, February 13, 2006 at 06:44 AM