1. Social Media & Citizen Journalism
Allan, S., Sonwalkar, P., Carter, C. 2007
„Bearing witness: citizen journalism and
human rights
issues‟, Globalisation, Societies and
Education, Vol. 5, No, 3, pp. 373- 389.
Alice Bui

2. Contents
 What is citizen
journalism?
 Citizen journalism as
a base for „emphatic
engagement‟
 Social Media &
Citizen journalism
 Traditional journalism
vs. Citizen journalism
 Activity

3. Citizen journalism
 Citizen journalists are ordinary people who take on the
role of news reporters.
 Citizen journalism is a site of „emphatic engagement‟
particularly vis-à-vis human rights violations.
 It has the ability to witness and humanise suffering.
 It offers a window into the lives of others.
 Alternative to „helicopter journalism‟. This
superficial, „outside-in‟ reporting is not what we need
stresses Danny Schechter.
 Case studies-
1) the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami;
2) the human rights abuses in India‟s north-east region
3) the Palestinian Crisis in the occupied territories.

4. Social Media & Citizen journalism
 Social media has
empowered ordinary
citizens to take on the
role of news reporters.
 Users are able to
express their views
and opinions.
 The use of social
media encourages
discussion and brings
like-minded people
together.

5. Web blogs
 Blogs provide a virtual space for discussion and
debate. Not only do they raise awareness about
certain issues, they also humanise events and
connect people.
 The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami
(SEA-EAT) was a blog set up soon after the
tragedy. It provided the „eyes and ears‟ of the
tragedy from a local point of view.
 http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com.au/

6. Summary of main issues
 Online news reporting
of citizen journalists
presents alternative
viewpoints, context and
ideas to news reports.
 Online reporting
empowers people by
giving them a voice
 Citizen journalism
encourages human
connection
 Social media facilitates
debate and discussion

7. Mainstream journalism Citizen journalism
Professional journalists- code of ethics, Amateurs, ordinary citizens- value
cross-check sources & leads transparency, do not have set values
Some see citizen journalism as a threat Redefined „news‟ and who can be a
„journalist‟
Embraced social media to further their Social media has given the masses a
influence and get a scoop voice and the means to produce their
http://au.news.yahoo.com/contact/ own content
Seek to control news Challenges the news, offering an
alternative perspective.
Lack of competition in the Australian Adds diversity to the media landscape
media industry
Journalists are the costly expense in Cost effective
journalism, a sustainable economic
model still needed
The idealised fourth estate The new fourth estate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLW_ Makes up for the shortcomings of
VOciufY mainstream media

8. Activity
 In pairs, spend about 5 minutes looking at the
blogs listed below and discuss what you have
learnt about blogs and citizen journalism
http://dailycloudt.com/voice
http://www.opendiary.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/
http://blogs.com.au/
http://blogsofnote.blogspot.com.au/
 Send 2 tweets to #mdia5003 one on what you
think makes a good blog and another
explaining the importance of citizen journalists
(i.e. Each person will send one tweet each)

9. References
 Allan, S., Sonwalkar, P., Carter, C. 2007 „Bearing witness: citizen journalism and human
rights issues‟, Globalisation, Societies and Education, Vol. 5, No, 3, pp. 373- 389.
 Bruns, A, 2010, „The Trouble with the Fourth Estate‟. Presented at “Whether Bloggers are the
new Fourth Estate”, Australasian Study of Parliament Group (Queensland Chapter)
event, Brisbane, 26 August.
 Greer, C. & McLaughlin E, 2010, „We predict a riot? Public Order Policing,
 New Media Environments and the Rise of the Citizen Journalist‟, Brit. J Criminol, 50, pp.
1041-1059.
 Krumsvik, A, H. 2012, „Why old media will be funding journalism in future‟, Journalism
Studies, pp. 1-13.
 Lee-Wright, P, Phillips, A, Witschge, T, 2012, Changing Journalism, Routledge: London, pp.
124-149.
 Lotan, G, Graeff, E, Ananny, M, Gaffney, D, Pearce, I, & Boyd, D, 2011, „The Revolutions
Were Tweeted: Informational Flows During the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions,‟
International Journal of Communication, vol. 5, pp. 1375-1405.
 Schultz, J, 1998, „Redefining the Fourth Estate‟ in Reviving the Fourth Estate:
Democracy, Accountability and the Media, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, Chapter
1, pp. 15- 22.