Citizen Journalism: Say it Yourself!

Citizen journalism is a relatively new phrase in the media world and a powerful alternative for media consumers today. We now have the option to read what average citizens are saying about the issues. The major advantage when it comes to citizen journalism is being able to confront bias in traditional media forms by being able to read, or even write, stories from multiple points of view.

One example of an online form of citizen journalism is Chi Town Daily News. This website is an
online newspaper for the Chicago area, written by volunteers. The site has space for stories on local news, culture, sports, the big city, events, blogs, updates, and special reports. Most of the news stories are factual, with the exception of the blog page. Called BLOG farm, this section of the website allows citizen journalists to write editorial-type stories and/or comment on others’ blogs.

Most of the articles appear to be error-free and written in a professional way, so it’s probably safe to assume that the articles are edited. According to the online article “The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism,” by Steve Outing, The Chi Town Daily News would most likely fall into layer six, the edited version of the stand-alone citizen journalism site.

To put this news source in perspective, it might help to compare it with a well-known newspaper. According to the book Media Literacy, by W. James Potter, the New York Times has been owned by one family for over a century. This provides “very high potential for members of that family to have a strong influence on that newspaper” (108). Because anybody can contribute, no one “owns” the Chi Town Daily News.

Also according to Media Literacy, a Gallup opinion poll found that more than half of Americans believe that the media is influenced by some outside source (116). Potter suggests that “if journalists are unable to provide us with balance, then we must construct it for ourselves if we are to be media literate” (121). This is exactly what citizen journalism strives to do, and Chi Town Daily News is a good example. We’ve all picked up a newspaper and been disappointed that something we think is important was not even mentioned. Because bias in the media undoubtedly affects what news organizations choose to cover, citizen journalism allows people to read about what is important to average citizens. And if your issue still isn’t covered—cover it yourself!

Creepers vs. Favorites

Flipping through channels last night, I happened to come across the premier of the new season of Survivor. I am a fan of the show and have watched most of the other seasons, so I tuned in for this one with its new twist. I had seen it advertised and was curious as to how it was going to work.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as other seasons, and the first episode proved me right, in my opinion at least. It seemed as though the “fans” were creepy stalkers of the “favorites,” which Alexis practically says by stating, “…we know their game. We know not only their strengths but their weaknesses too.” There have been multiple seasons of Survivor, and in order to remember the way every contestant played the game, you would have to be a bit of a creeper.

By choosing to run this type of show, I think CBS is testing America’s limits on true devotion to media. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who are obsessive fans of reality shows, but I believe that putting them on national television for the whole country to know the extent of their fanaticism is a bit much. Maybe it’s too early to judge, but I don’t think the fans versus favorites setup will be the “ultimate challenge” after all.

The Media Literacy Continuum as Seen in "Max Headroom"

In class on Wednesday, we watched an episode of an old TV show called “Max Headroom,” which I had neither seen nor heard of before. While trying to watch the show with media literacy in mind, I found it important to remember a key concept of media literacy: that it is a continuum, not a category.

The first scene that I found to illustrate this concept was when the men were sitting at the table, communicating with another man who was projected on a big TV screen, similar to a webcam. Since these devices are relatively new, the continuum of media literacy is expanding as new technology is invented.

When a news report was being given, it seemed to reiterate some values at the core of the media literacy continuum; the reporter used phrases like, “We’ll keep you posted,” which is an expression that is familiar to the media literate because it has existed on the continuum for some time.

Although this is a futuristic show, it is interesting to note the different ways that media is used and represented. Since some media features on this show were fairly new and others have been around for years, we can see the continuum of media literacy in action.