The concept of citizen journalism has formed upon the basis of the public “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information”. And, now in the age of mobile phones and smartphones that have photographic capabilities, citizen journalism can be taken to a whole other level.
Reporter Paul Lewis, in his TED Talk “Crowdsourcing the News”, claims that everyone can be a potential news source. A man on the street now has the ability to film or record, edit, and launch a story at any given moment. In fact, this happens everyday when people talk about events on Twitter or post photos with captions to Instagram.
The public has the responsibility and ability to ensure justice. One way to do this is using the technology we have to give us the power we need to ensure that justice and exercise the right. We have the responsibility to rightly use technology to regulate journalism.
The public is both the subject and source of news. The public is responsible for how they react to an event or situation. News and media outlets pick up on this. The news draws upon people’s interests, opinions, and issues and creates stories and finds relatable information that the public would want to consume. If the public changes their opinion about something you can be sure how the news covers the subject will also change.
Grace's Civic Media Blog 