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!