Citizen Journalism should not be overlooked

In 2008 after Mayhill Fowler exposed an inappropriate statement made by soon-to-be president Obama, many questioned her support for the presidential candidate. According to an LA times article, “‘CitizenJournalist’ broke Obama story,” Fowler gave almost $2,300 to the Obama campaign, and while she still considered herself an Obama supporter she felt compelled to share his statements with the public.

The concept of citizen journalism may be criticized by some and as a journalism major I can’t help but feel slightly bitter about someone with no training performing successful reporting. However, I do feel the development of citizen journalism will benefit the public at large. In the Fowler example, the event where Obama made his statement was closed to the press, had Fowler been attached to a news outlet it is extremely rare that she would have witnessed what Obama had said and therefore not have the story.

Citizen journalism has been able to become so widespread because of the use of the Internet and social media. A citizen can put a video on YouTube or pose a picture on twitter and it can instantly become viral. This is a more basic form of citizen journalism than Fowler, considering she was able to produce an entire story and have it published on the Huffington Post. But, no matter what medium the news from citizen sources has made coverage of public figures almost nonstop.

The LA times article quoted USC journalism professor Larry Pryor who said, “"We have entered new territory and the rules are not all clear…you have to assume that everything is on the record. There's no getting around that anymore."

Some may question whether or not news from citizen journalists can be trusted however, as I discussed in a previous blog post, transparency is now becoming key to effective reporting. As long as a citizen journalist is truthful in their reporting and open about where they are coming from and how they received the information, I don’t think it should be much of a problem.

Although, Fowler was criticized by the fact that she was not “a true Obama supporter.” I feel she should be commended for her reporting. She was able to put her personal feelings aside and instead of covering up for a politician she admired she chose to share the truth regarding his opinions on small-town America. As a citizen journalist Fowler acted in the way traditional journalists should when given the opportunity to expose the truth.