As predicted, digital photography and the Internet is increasingly changing the way people produce and consume news. Citizen shutterbugs and journalists are beginning to utilize emerging technologies to help inform and build communities.
For example, the cyber-citizens who operate the WestportNow website have been scooping mainstream media outlets recently in ways never imagined. In fact, the local television station and weekly newspaper now regularly monitor the website for news about the community.
According to Cyberjournalist.Net, even the New York Times has relied on the website to make corrections on a story about the community after citizen journalists reported the facts more accurately.
What are the implications of having a bunch of citizen journalists running around the community with cameras and recorders covering issues and events that would otherwise rarely see the light of day in a mainstream publication?
Recently, WestportNow citizens photographed the rescue of a teenager trapped in a burning car by a passing motorist, as well as uploaded more than 240 images just hours after the city wrapped up its Memorial Day parade.
Anyone with a camera phone and an Internet connection can submit pictures and stories to the community news blog. Community members can comment on the coverage, add or correct the information.
Source: WestportNow
Does this mean that citizen journalism will replace mainstream media?
My first reaction to this question is no, but a media-savvy community may be a healthy form of community activism -- one that can fill many information needs of a society.
Granted the quality of images and caption writing is not equal to much of the content found in most daily newspapers, but the very fact that average citizens are taking it upon themselves to become more informed and to inform others about their communities is very exciting. Cyber-journalism and citizen shutterbugs from a grassroots perspective signifies a shift in the creation, control and distribution of information across the Internet. Instead of perceiving this shift as a threat to mainstream media, we should look upon the activities of individuals to share and report on communities as a positive democratizing force in society. It is important to recognize how digital technologies can influence productivity, empowerment and interaction in an age of immediacy as well as contribute to the social identities of communities around the world.