What is Citizen Journalism? Definition, Impact, and Examples

Citizen journalism allows ordinary people to step into reporters’ shoes and cover newsworthy incidents using simple equipment. It is diverse, quick, first-hand, and easily disseminated using social media.

From covering political rallies and elections to the BLM, COVID-19 reporting, the Kerala Floods, and the recent student protests at Columbia University, regular citizens’ participation in news has shaped public opinion and transformed how we perceive news as a medium of communication.

Keep reading to discover what is citizen journalism and how it impacts the news landscape.

What is Citizen Journalism?

Citizen journalism is a form of news reporting in which ordinary people (citizens) collect and report incidents from the ground. In contrast to traditional news reporting, this does not involve professional journalists and uses minimum equipment.

The key distinguishing characteristics of citizen journalism are –

• It is participatory, where the lines between audience and news reporter are significantly blurred.
• Citizen journalists use mobile devices, including cell phones and tablets.
• Social media is a major platform that helps spread information.

Role of Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism has emerged as one of the most defining media and news reporting niches. It has decentralized news, shifting the power dynamics and increasing accessibility.

1. Helps Democratize News Reporting

With citizen journalism becoming popular, people no longer limit their news consumption to mainstream media. This emerging area helps break down the barriers in news reporting and empowers people to record and publish significant incidents around them.

Citizen journalists can use their mobile phones to film and leverage social media to reach a large number of people without depending on traditional news channels to be the medium.

2. Makes People More Vigilant

One of the most effective roles of citizen journalism and social reporting is to make people more vigilant.

As the viewers get more invested in hyperlocal news and connect with the perspectives emphasized by citizen journalists, they are more likely to scrutinize details and intellectualize complex incidents around them.

3. Allows Citizens to Participate in News Reporting Actively

Citizens are no longer passive viewers of news. With a rise in social reporting and the growth of social media as a prominent medium of disseminating information, people are actively participating in news gathering, making it diverse and humanized.

It makes room for more voices in the scene, promoting tolerance and collaboration and making society more transparent and accommodating.

Impact of Citizen Journalism

With the use of quick and efficient platforms and mobile-first news, citizen journalists can reach hundreds and thousands of people globally in seconds. The instinctive and empathetic nature of reporting and the first-person view it provides make it highly impactful.

Here are 5 ways citizen journalism impacts news reporting and helps shape public opinion.

1. Real-Time Reporting

With accessible and portable tools, social media, and involvement in the incident, citizen journalists can report incidents as they unfold.

Live streams and vertical videos filmed and edited using mobile devices further help provide real-time coverage and make it user-friendly.

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It also allows the public to better interact with news pieces, express their opinions, share them freely on their social media pages, and keep up with the global socio-cultural and geo-political scenario.

2. Diversity in News

Democratization and decentralization of news allow more people to join the field and make space for different views, distinct news reports, and diverse voices. It helps marginalized communities and oppressed groups break social and systemic barriers and make their voices heard across the world.

Diversity in news helps make societies more progressive, tolerant, and plural, promoting peace and harmony among communities and making news and media a just and syncretic medium of communication.

3. Humanizes The People Involved

Citizen journalists often belong to the groups of people directly impacted by an incident. From people affected by natural disasters to participants of student protests and survivors of wars and genocides, these people provide a “first-hand” perspective of the incident they are covering.

It highlights the plight of the people involved and helps humanize them rather than treating them as “data” or “subjects”. This leads to more people being drawn to the news piece and connecting with the affected people on an emotional level.

The humane aspect of social reporting makes it trauma-informed and empathetic rather than presenting a myopic view.

4. Access To Ground Reporting

Think of the friends and relatives of COVID-19-affected people filming and reporting the situation from hospitals or the BLM protesters livestreaming the marches and showing the ground reality.

Citizen journalism emphasizes ground reporting and offers perspectives from the scene of reporting. It focuses on providing live coverage while the incident unfolds and keeps the audience in a loop.

While traditional media attempts to provide deeper contexts and intellectualizes incidents for a broader study, social reporting efficiently gets the real-time news to reach the public quickly and efficiently.

5. Counters Censorship

From Sudan to Gaza and beyond, citizen journalists have managed to report the plight of their fellow humans, overcoming intense crackdowns, internet shutdowns, and other restrictions.

Censorship has been a constraint to effective reporting for decades. From repeated sanctions to threats to the lives of journalists in sensitive zones, with a concerning rise in fascist ideologies in different parts of the world, declining press freedom continues to worry reporters from around the globe.

Citizen journalism effectively counters the problem of censorship by reporting on suppressed information, reaching out to global human rights watches, and relaying information to a conscious demographic. It brings diverse perspectives to the forefront and shapes public discourse.

Role of Technology in Citizen Journalism

• Mobile-first reporting

From vertical videos to social media apps, the increasing use of smartphones to record and spread information has played a huge role in the growth and expansion of citizen journalism.

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Mobile devices provide easy access to recording, editing, and publishing applications and allow journalists to be discreet in their work. It is a people-friendly device and perfect for catering to the millions of news viewers who use their smartphones as the primary device for news and media consumption.

People can now livestream from protests and rallies and convey their perspectives to millions of people online.

• Reaching Thousands of People in Seconds Through Livestreams

You might have come across videos recorded by ordinary citizens from war-torn and disaster-struck regions or hate crimes being filmed on the phone of a passerby.

From landslides in the mountains to riots and clashes, citizen journalists can use live streaming applications and social media to instantly reach thousands of people around the world.

• Makes News Interactive And Engaging

Technology ensures that people interact with news and make it more participatory even when they are not recording an incident.

From polls to expressing their opinions to commenting on live streams, asking questions, or generating more important leads, viewers engage with the report, share it, and help make the news dissemination process faster and wider.

Key Challenges In Citizen Journalism

Despite considerable popularity, citizen journalism continues to raise concerns among experts. From the risk of fake news and misinterpretations to ethical considerations, social reporting comes with its own set of challenges.

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• Lack of credibility

Citizen journalists are not trained professionals. They often lack the technical skills and professional knowledge to verify sources. The ambiguity of sources and potential inaccuracies or lack of context in social reporting can cause confusion and affect the credibility of news. It also increases the chances of misinformation being circulated and unverified news being taken at face value.

• Difficulty in fact-checking

Without proper professional training and access to vast resources like traditional media, fact-checking and verification often becomes a tedious job. Citizen journalists might not be able to independently verify every single source, resulting in chaos and misinformation.

• Security concerns

Reporting on controversial topics from sensitive areas can put these journalists at risk of injury, threat, harassment, cyber bullying, and legal issues. Individuals often lack the kind of security and safety standards maintained by news channels to protect their journalists.

• Ethical Issues

Traditional news outlets maintain strict ethical standards while reporting and distributing news. Individuals reporting on sensitive incidents might lack a complete knowledge of ethical standards. This can result in sensationalization of news, biases, and unethical reporting, including invasion of privacy, overstepping boundaries, and revealing sensitive personal information.

• Financial and other constraints

Citizen journalists don’t have access to financial and other resources like traditional news media. They might need to pool funds from their pocket to manage in-depth reporting and further research. The monetary constraint can sometimes make it difficult for citizen journalists to sustain their work for a long time without professional assistance.

Recent Case Studies of Citizen Journalism

Have you ever clicked on a news piece on social media that was posted by ordinary citizens? Can you recall incidents where citizen journalists played a crucial role in informing the public about something important?

Here are some incidents that gained global attention and reached a large audience thanks to citizen journalists –

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1. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests following the unlawful death of George Floyd – In 2020, citizen journalists brought the hate crime to notice by filming on their phone, which led to massive protests around the world that massively contributed to the growing BLM movement.

2. Regional crises during the COVID-19 pandemic – The COVID crisis was reported in-depth by people from hospitals and quarantine centers. These citizen journalists played an active role in mobilizing life-saving resources and keeping people updated by building websites, concise lists, apps, and through social media.

3. Citizen Journalism in Palestine – According to an Aljazeera report, citizen journalists have been on the frontline of reporting the massive attacks, destruction, internet shutdowns, and loss of life in Palestine during 2023-25.

The Future of News: Uniting Traditional Media & Citizen Journalism

In 2025, we are likely to see a collaboration between traditional news outlets and citizen journalists – from crowdsourcing news through social reporting to industry leaders helping citizen journalists reach more people by amplifying their voices. 

• AI Integration

Citizen journalists are investing time and effort to master different AI-powered tools for aiding processes like fact-checking and source verification to enhance their credibility and appeal to more people.

• Collaboration With Traditional Media

As the popularity of citizen journalism grows, traditional outlets are expected to collaborate with them to amplify diverse voices, cater to a wider demographic, and crowdsource news to cover more reports efficiently.

• Specialized Training and Awareness for Citizen Journalists

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Short-term specialized training programs that teach citizens about the laws and ethics of journalism and the basics of tools and equipment are becoming increasingly popular. This year, we will see a rise in webinars, talks, and mini-courses that empower people to become citizen journalists.

Conclusion

Citizen journalists have become integral to news gathering and dissemination. The growth and expansion of the niche are owed to its humane approach, ground reports, and diversity that appeals to the modern news viewers.

If you have participated in social reporting before and want to understand what is citizen journalism and cultivate that interest, don’t forget to check out the BJMC courses offered by AAFT, Noida.