Citizen journalism
is basically about members of the public getting involved in the process of
collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.
This is not my definition, but that
of wikipedia. To read more on this, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism
In a nutshell, this 21st
century new brand of journalism means anybody regardless of his or her
profession or vocation is a journalist, a reporter.
So,
if you are a wielder, teacher, bricklayer, business person, full time housewife,
journalist, accountant, farmer, blogger and hustler, etc. you have every right
under the sun to report or write on any issue.
Tag
words Wikipedia used are: public, participatory, democratic, guerilla, street
journalism.
The social media, smart phones,
emails, forums, directories and other online platforms have made the serious
business of collecting and analyzing news and information open to every tom,
dick and harry across the globe.
Therefore, if there is a disaster, violence, bloodbath, rape, murder,
assassination, kidnapping, organized robbery, air mishap or auto-crash in one
part of the globe, it is seen, read and felt across the entire world in a
matter of minutes.
This is technology in action for the
good of humanity.
People could just pick these calamities
and post them on any of the social media platforms and pronto, the whole world
is disturbed.
This is the pain of citizen
journalism as raw, unprocessed news or information has the capacity to do more
damages than good.
It is okay for every man or
woman, boy or girl or youth to become a citizen journalist, just because the
person is armed with tools for communications.
But, I honestly think people
whose passion it is to collect and report news and information on the social
media without going through the pains of processing these news and information in
accordance with internationally acceptable journalism standards should think
twice.
Citizen
journalists, regardless of who they are could make a living, a career,
collecting news, photos, videos and information and passing them on to
established media organization for processing before being presented to the
public. This is the gain of citizen journalism.
In this century, where information
is spread at the speed of light, it could gladden the mind of an illiterate
peasant farmer somewhere in Abak Oko village, whose son suddenly presented him with
N5000.
The son may explain to the farmer
that the money was paid into his bank account by a newspaper, magazine or
website within or outside Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom state, south-west Nigeria, where this remote village is located for
collecting and passing on a news, information, photo or video to the media
platform. The truth is that I am from this village.
In journalism, bad news is good
news. But, from my humble experience as a practicing journalist of more than
two decades, if journalists write, air or post just 10% of what they collect,
raw and unprocessed, this beautiful world will collapse or cease to exist.
I do not care about your
profession or vocation. I do not care if you are educated or illiterate. I do
not care if you are poor or wealthy.
What I know and care is that in
your little corner, you can contribute your small quota to making this world a
better place.
How?
Tell us what is happening in your home, compound, street, community, local
government, state, country and we will look at it analyze it and pass it on for
the world to read, see and feel.
If you are interested in
partnering with us on this serious and humanitarian mission of serving God and
humanity as a citizen journalist, let us know.
Please
contact us through: www.vicnuel.blogspot.com.ng or
eeudom@yahoo.com
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