Tweets!

How Citizen Journalism is changing the world, one post at a time.

Article by: Roseann Ramirez

In 1961, A.J. Liebling, a journalist for The New Yorker, once said: “Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one.” Today, merely forty-eight years later, the Internet has radically changed all that.

The microblogging site Twitter, along with other popular websites like Facebook, YouTube and Multiply, is very much familiar to the vocabulary of this tech-savvy generation. In Twitter, the main idea is for people to be able to say, in 140 characters or less, whatever they’re thinking or doing at the moment. But in places like Iran, it plays a much bigger role than just sharing what you’ve had for dinner.

Tweets from Iran

During the 2009 elections in Iran, the ban on mass media reports imposed by their government compelled Iranians to use Twitter to update the world about their situation. The Iranian government may have been able to stop foreign journalists from reporting about the country’s affairs, but without confiscating all cell phones they will not be able to control the thousands of Tweets uploaded by the hour. To be doubly effective, tweets also have the capacity to be elusive. By altering source codes, citizens elude arrest by appearing to log on from other countries.

Iran’s avid Twitter members are just examples of what we call the citizen journalists.

What is citizen journalism?

Mark Glaser, a freelance journalist, says that “The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others.”

Modern citizen journalism itself began with the 1988 US Presidential Elections, when journalists themselves questioned the predictability of their coverage. By introducing the ordinary citizen into the journalists' field, not only does the field expand, the public's trust in the media grows and becomes more secured as well.

Modern citizen journalism itself began with the 1988 US Presidential Elections, when journalists themselves questioned the predictability of their coverage. By introducing the ordinary citizen into the journalists' field, not only does the field expand, the public's trust in the media grows and becomes more secured as well.

Citizen Journalism in the Philippines

In the Philippines, citizen journalism is not at all inactive. Besides the avid bloggers (some of whom may be considered or are actual journalists), popular broadcast media give opportunities for expressions of vigilance. There are programs such as “Bayan Mo I-Patrol Mo” and the popular “Ako Mismo” dogtag campaign that encourage citizens to take a more active role in local and national issues.

Expertise versus Novelty

Sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Multiply have now entered the vocabulary of the generation, not only as technological novelties, but also as mediums through which instrumental information may be shared. Of course, the quality of this information may be called into question. Traditional journalists are skeptical about the ethics of citizen journalists and most maintain that only trained journalists can understand the professional values of reporting.

We are aware that the Internet provides us with a constant deluge of information, and true enough, this information may not always be accurate. The Internet, with its ever-changing and easy-to-update nature, is not subject to the fact-checking and scrutiny required in print journalism. But it cannot be denied that amateur reporters, no matter how inexperienced, can provide fresh insights and invaluable information.

But citizen journalism has other consequences. By shifting into the high-tech mode of dispersing information, those without access to these resources are left out. These include those who don't have 20 pesos of load to spare, or have the resources to afford Internet costs, computers or even the education to become computer literate, among the few.

Consensus

Danilo AraƱa Arao, Assistant Professor of Journalism in UP Diliman, mentioned regarding this matter in the 2006 Calabarzon Communication Convention:

“The challenge therefore lies for the online users to discern the reliability of the information provided by online publications they visit as they seek analyses that can guide them in making sense of the national situation.”

Citizen journalism both inside and outside the country has potential, although it is not without its dangers. But in a world where swiftness is the Zeitgeist, the Internet and its ever expanding features and functions are indispensable. It will continue to evolve just as we do, and will always be a way to express indomtability.

In this high-speed realm, there is no telling what will happen next. One thing is for sure though: people are bound to Twitter about it. ▪