EOTO 2 - Citizen Journalism

 You've Probably Participated in Citizen Journalism Without Realizing It

You're kind of stupid for not realizing your contributions

"Citizen journalism involves private individuals, who are normally the consumers of journalism, generating their own news content."

I’ve never been big on blogging, vlogging, tweeting, or any other form of social media. It’s never really fit for me. Even so, on the occasions I do —such as for this class—, I find that I enjoy myself and my time writing. —I am, after all, a writer. Something I didn’t realize, however, was that what I am doing is considered “Citizen journalism.” 

Citizen journalism consists of bloggers, podcasters, home publications, and really any individual who releases informational media —which, really, is most non-cinematic media. There are sides of TikTok, for example, which post content meant to inform. There’s Gay News TikTok, Line3 TikTok, Republican / Liberal TikTok, even information TikTok sides that teach about what they do, like therapists, lawyers, spiritualists, and other content creators teaching and informing their viewers.

Without citizen journalism, frankly, information would not spread nearly as much as it does today. Personally, I find out most news through media like TikTok rather than large news corporations like CNN, FOX, New York Times, and other mass news outlets. We wouldn’t hear about suppressed news, like Line Three and the attacks on water protectors and other indigenous peoples. May of our generation wouldn’t be so invested in the political scheme if it weren’t for social media and citizen journalism, either.

It’s more than spread of information, though. If we didn’t have citizen journalism, all our incoming news would be derived from large corporations or the government. This means that the information being released would be heavily regulated and biased. We’d only know one side of the story, or we’d hear two opposite extremes of the same story that don’t provide real insight to the truth of the situation. Our attention would be diverted to what gets the most reaction, what the big political problems are, and we’d never hear about smaller or less talked about problems. Our government would have even more control over what we get to know and what we don’t get to know. Nothing about that is freedom; all that spells out is propaganda, lies, and distraction from real issues. 

Be grateful for the widespread use of social media, and the amount of creators who talk about, and promote talking about, information, news, injustices, and problems that don't get talked about, but still need out attention.

Stay Spicy, Drink Water, Don't Believe Everything You Read or Hear