MetaFilter and Citizen Journalism in the 9/11 Attacks

Over the past many weeks, our class has analyzed specific case examples of the Internet's role in providing a tool for ordinary individuals to contribute to journalistic dialogue as events emerge. One of the benefits of using the Internet to studying citizen journalism is that fact that, to a large extent, many instances of citizen and witness journalism can still be found in their archived real-time state. The website MetaFilter, which has been in operation since 1999, is a great example of being able to 'go back in time' and track real-life responses to famous events as they occurred.

The MetaFilter entry for September 11th, 2001 provides for a particularly interesting, if not immensely haunting, analysis of eyewitness reports coming together through a unified electronic medium to coordinate information on a large scale. The first post on MetaFilter occurred at 8:58am, twelve minutes after the first plane hit the north tower (listed at 5:58am in the post, Pacific Time). Following the comments in the thread, one will find users chiming in, trying to gather as many details as possible. Only a few comments down, user TNLNYC posted at 9:06am (6:06 PST) that a second plane hit the South tower, an event which had occurred only three minutes prior. Commentators begin speculating almost immediately as to who perpetrated the attacks, and whether or not they were attacks in the first place. cCranium posted the first image in the thread at 9:33am (6:33am PST), which although taken from the website of a traditional news organization, represents an early use of using social media to spread multimedia and imagery about disasters.

In terms of commentary, one of the most striking moments of foreshadow comes from user ktheory, who states that "our focus (as Americans) must not only to bring justice to those organizing this attack, but on preserving civil liberties. During peacetime, it's easier to be socially conscious and live morally. I'm most concerned that an event this drastic will cause many to replace ideologies based on reason with ideologies based on fear." Furthermore, user Doug posted at 9:51am (6:51am PST) that "This is going to be a big turning point in the history and character of this country," which is followed by reports only minutes later that the south tower had just collapsed, the first of the buildings to fall. More than functioning as a mere log of events, comments such as these demonstrate the emergence of sentiments that would later permeate our discourse surrounding this particular historical event.

MetaFilter itself is unique in that it does not represent, in straightforward terms, an "open" and free web. Since 2004, MetaFilter has charged a $5 sign-up fee for creating an account, which although potentially limiting to some users and demographics, prevents a flood of troll and spam accounts. The site also features relatively strict guidelines, aimed at maintaining the site's purpose as a literal "filter" for the most interesting content on the web. Thanks to these restrictions, MetaFilter has remained a niche community, though its simplicity and ability to foster discussion nonetheless allow it to access as a hub for eyewitness reporting when important events and disasters occur. In this sense, it becomes a moderated, yet very much fruitful, outlet for the facilitation and preservation of discussion. In doing so, users nowadays can explore these time capsules of dialogue surrounding major events since the beginning of the last decade, providing a valuable resource not only for studying the emergence of early Internet citizen journalism, but also for discovering the rhetoric that surrounded such events within the discussion of ordinary individuals.

An Attack on U.S Press Freedom?

Press freedom has been a long tradition in the United States being a liberal country according to the study done by Daniel C. Hallin and Paolo Mancini in their book Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. The First Amendment in the United States Constitution states that Congress shall not pass a law that abridges an individual's freedom of speech and/or press. In a recent anti-war protest against NATO, protesters marched along the street in an non-violent manner in hopes to send a peace message to President Obama and the NATO representatives during their summit. According to the Wall Street Journal, four protestors were arrested on the grounds of being potential "terrorists". At the end of the article, the author concludes with a quick interview summary he had with a Chicago Police Department officer saying,

"There have been little incidents here and there, but they're caused by a very small group of individuals that don't represent the other protesters." But, he added on Sunday morning, "we'll see what today brings."

In other activist protest events, specifically the Occupy Wall Street protest in Miami, Florida, many journalists such as Carlos Miller had their cameras confiscated and/or they were arrested for trying to photograph police brutality against the protesters. After some more research, the Wall Street Journal failed to report what was really happening on the streets of Chicago. Some blogs such as this one, created a collage of video clips taken by the protesters and journalists via smartphones. 

If the United States Constitution protects our right to free speech and free press, why are protestors and journalists facing such treatment? Large media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, only skim the top of the event and completely disregard what is actually going on to individuals during the protest. This is alarming since most people do not search for works of citizen journalism off the bat and would resort to just reading through major news outlets that produce pretentious works such as this. The Constitution and every citizen it protects by is threatened by acts of impulse in police decisions, often leading to violent acts of brutality that may slowly deteriorate the infrastructure it is built upon. Citizen journalism and journalists who document and report on these types of events serve as an important asset to the global mediascape. Without them, how much trust can we put onto the individuals that protect and govern our country?

Revamped Media in Libya

The Libyan media is no longer run by the former dictator, Mummar Gaddafi. Libya's media was controlled tightly for forty years. Mummar Gaddafi controlled the media outlets during his rule. The media were required to convey what Mummar Gaddafi approved of. There are many stories regarding his dealing with the Libyan media. Muhammad El-Huni a news anchor on Al-Libya TV shared a frightening situation with the former dicator Gaddafi. Muhammad El-Huni told Al Jazeera news channel, that Al-Libya TV aired a segment regarding a relationship between Egypt, and Hezbollah. After that segment aired, Mummar Gaddafi made a 2am trip to the news station, and interrogated everyone in the news room.

After the fall of Mummar Gaddafi, the media outlets in Libya became free. They no longer had to deal with stringent requirements for the news they presented. But, the media were in a uncomfortable environment. The Libyan media were instructed for forty years, and now they have absolutely no direction. Many Libyan people wants to participate in news stories. They are presenting different stories through facebook, and twitter. Surprisingly, the Libyan people are taking the news from these social media outlets. The Libyan people are believing people whose credentials are unknown.

Zapita whose a journalist, described the new direction of the Libyan media. "It was very frustrating being a writer in a state-owned, state-controlled publication. As soon as the revolution happened, I wanted to start my own newspaper, be my own boss." Zapita continues, "We're starting from a void... We're starting from zero- that is a challenge. There hasn't been a tradition of a free, independent press for, some would say, roughly 40 years. So we don't have that tradition, that culture. And that'ts not easy, building a tradition, a culture, overnight."

So how will the Libyan people receive their news? When will the media outlets in Libya recover from the fall of Mummar Gaddafi. Check Al-Jazeera news for the answers. 

Power to the .GIF

This past week, Obama announced his support for gay marriage for the 2012 election. After the announcement was made, 24 hours couldn't have passed when I stumbled upon several internet memes that commented on this news. Among the bombardment of memes, I came upon a Tumblr blog called "When Obama Endorsed Marriage Equality", a .gif collection of supposed reactions from certain people and celebrity figures, such as news anchors...

"...news anchors were all like:"

bloggers...

"bloggers were like:

"PAGEVIEWWWWS!!!!""

 and my personal favorite, the reactions of Obama, the Clintons, Barbra Streisand and Nancy Pelosi.

"… high-powered Democrats got in on the #equalitydanceparty"

This was a humorous way for the owner of the blog to show support for Obama's decision, and other Tumblr users added to the collection by using the hash tag: #equalitydanceparty.

Although the posts may conjure laughs from the viewer, there is also an underlying meaning of support and a statement on the significance of Obama's statement for the members and supporters for the gay community. There were also some .gifs added that were the supposed reactions of people against this decision, most depicted in a negative manner.

What's interesting is most of these .gifs were created before Obama made this decision, most of them were merely clips from popular films and television shows that the creators posted because they were humorous or for other reasons. But when they were added to this blog with small captions from the blog creator, the re-appropriation of the meaning created a strong, apparent statement for marriage equality.

Although these clips are not human rights images that aim to evoke empathy and resentment of the oppressing power from the viewer like the "IRAN They don't care about us" video, the use of humor and familiar images is no less effective in creating an intended message.

But both of these examples do have a similarity: collecting images to make a .gif like the examples above or creating a photograph slideshow and adding music like the "IRAN" video are simple for many internet users to make; especially those who grew up with the Internet, like most college students. Ideally, many of them could make their own intended message and spread their opinions, and make their voices heard within the realm of the Internet.

Mexico Turns to Social Media and Citizen Journalism During Drug War Media Blackout

A recent article from Houston Based Blog attempts to understand the phenomena known as Blog Del Narco.

The war on drugs in Mexico has taken the lives of more thank 50,000 citizens in that country in the last six years. Journalists account for 44 of those deaths. The state of Journalism in Mexico is one of fear and complete censorship. The drug cartels have been systematically shutting down news rooms and freelance journalists by threatening to kill them and their entire families. Reporters, editors and photojournalist's bodies along with their family members, have been found along streets and sometimes hanging over bridges displaying large banners with written messages to the public known as narcomantas. At times grenades have been thrown directly in to the buildings of news rooms.

Newspapers are still being printed and news is made everyday in Mexico, the difference is, only the murder is reported. No names are used, no suspects are reported and sometimes bylines in articles are left blank. Newspaper editors have been known to approach the cartels and ask, "what would you like us to report on?" This is media coverage about the drug war in Mexico today.

The last six years however, social media has played a central role in the reporting of the drug related violence. Enter, Blog Del Narco a blog that has been up and running since 2007. What makes this blog special is the ability to stay anonymous. All that is known about the blog is that it was created by a computer science student in Northern Mexico. It is ran by a handful of editors, and moderators and it is protected by numerous firewalls that protect it's location.

This cloak of invisibility allows users to share information freely with out fear of retaliation. One can open an account and start blogging today under anonymous. Now I can shoot a video at a downtown mall where a shooting may take place and I can upload to YouTube and then post in on Blog Del Narco where I can comment on what I saw and any details of the vehicles, weapons, or identities of the individuals involved. I can warn people, do stay away from downtown  or stay of the highways.

See Video of Shootout 

This has not only proven valuable to citizens in the violent towns but it also has become a free for all information bulletin. It is believed that the site is getting up too 1million hits per months. Visitors include, private citizens, Mexican police, Mexican Federal agents, American DEA, CIA and of course the gang members themselves. cartel members will post a video of a an execution and comment on why they did it and who is next. The graphic nature of the site is what gives it part of it's credibility. The videos are not censored, the violence is raw.  

One incident occurred in 2011 where a couple of teenage boys took out cell phones while sitting on their front porch of their home. They were witnessing a shooting directly across the street. They decided to hide behind a car parked in their driveway and start filming the shootout. The five minute video showed SUVs peeling out and machine-gun fire crackling down the residential streets. Members running in and out of vehicles and eventually bodies dropping to the floor and left dead. The two boys who were cousins decided to upload the video rot YouTube as soon as they got in the house. I mean that was some great video surely it would go viral that night. What occurred next changed the way citizen journalism operated over night. The video was posted on Blog Del Narco and later viewed by the gang members involved in the shootout earlier that morning. A quick scan of the location and point of view of the camera lens, allowed the gang members to identify where the video had been shot from. The next morning, the two boys got a knock on the door.

The YouTube comments were still coming in when an R.I.P. comment read the names of the two amateur videographers.

I do not know what is going to happen in Mexico but I hope the government acts quickly to protect journalists. I also hope social media will play a larger role in the dissimanation of cartel activity in Mexico.

Signal app for iPhone

The iPhone will soon be coming out with a new app that is specifically for citizen journalism. This app is coming from Lebanon from an entrepreneur named Mark Malkoun. He has explained that this app was designed specifically to get important news feeds out to people, locally, nationally, or internationally.


TNW explained that this app opens up many opportunities for citizen journalism, that Malkoun explains we cannot get anywhere else. Although there are many social networking sites that have been used as news feeds, they were not designed with journalism in mind. 


Malkoun explains that, "Traditional news is centralized and can be slow or biased...And existing social networks tend to be news about friends, people, or brands, and are not suitable for on-the-ground events. We needed an app that simply shows you the most important happenings in your country or the world and that’s how Signal was created.”

            
This app can potentially bring about great opportunities for citizen journalism. It has the qualities of Instagram, as reported by Mashable, combined with social networking as well as qualities of Witness. This app has essentially taken into account all of the key elements of popular media to provide the news we need and want right at our fingertips. This app is perhaps the citizen journalists dream come true with constant feed, up-to-date, no opinion or spam, with location relevance. This app will make it so we can see everything from the nearby car accident on the 5 freeway, to the protests in Russia, to the Hurricane or Earthquake disasters across the globe. The news feeds will be rated according to interest or relevance, and they will be done so in a “democratic” manner. 

This is the next step of citizen journalism, taking inspiration from Witness, where people can upload video and photographs to share injustices occurring across the globe. However, this new app takes it even further to sharing any relevant news in any area. We know this kind of news sharing was done through social media and other outlets during crisis times like Hurricane Katrina, but now there will be an app that is specifically designed for this sort of thing, instead of scrambling around all sorts of sites to find relevant news. This app may be able to save lives, it may be able to bring awareness to issues that are not reported in our local or national news outlets, it will allow worldwide sharing and coverage. Ultimately the news will be sitting in our pockets and we will be choosing what news is most relevant to us currently.

    
This however, brings into question what effects it may have on journalism now. As we know print journalism is fading away, it is struggling to keep up with the demand for instant news right at our fingertips. With a new app such as Signal we can see that print journalism may become obsolete, it will no longer be necessary to pick up a paper anymore because we have read all local, national, and international news on our Signal app as it happened. We could be interested in some follow-up information, but we can easily find that online without having to pay a penny. 


Because we will be receiving instant news updates, will we even need structured news agencies anymore? Their work will be done by the citizen journalists posting up-to-date information as it happens, all that will be left will be summaries and opinion, which we can find elsewhere online. Will apps like the Signal app push print news and even television news onto the sidelines? Will it render one or both obsolete? Time will only tell, but at the rate in which we are going, it seems that what the people want is facts, simple and short facts, that is what citizen journalists can provide and that is what news consumers will take. We want our news quick, we want it concise, and we want it up-to-date, Signal provides that with the convenience of a smartphone app, with a social networking and Instagram quality that we love. 

And don't worry Android users, a version of the Signal app will be coming out for you as well! 

Chen Guangcheng, Technology, and the Rise of a Democratic China

Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese activist who has recently sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy, fears for his family as they have been placed under house arrest, most recently Guangcheng's nephew was beat by "thugs".  Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights activist and lawyer, has fought for years against the excessive force used in the one child law, resulting in unwanted abortions as well a number of human rights and environmental violations.  He is currently kept in a hospital room, away from the public and under supervision by the Chinese government.  American diplomats have been warned to not get involved in the affairs of the Chinese government, which have strained current Chinese-American relations.  Activists in China have taken to Weibo, a hybrid of twitter and Facebook, to call upon fellow activists to gather and protest for Guangcheng's freedom.  The Chinese and U.S. government are still struggling to find an amiable solution for both parties, and in a video from the AP, Vice President Joe Biden expresses concern for Guangcheng and wishes to provide safety to the activist and his family through the form of a study abroad program.

Chen Guangcheng, is one of many Chinese dissidents who have tried to seek refuge in the United States, which continues to perpetuate the idea that American democracy is the purest form of democracy to the Chinese.  While their image of America is far from the realities, it shows a longtime movement toward democracy that many Chinese are hoping for.  With the advent of Weibo, despite the censorship it faces, still provides the Chinese some form of communication.  Some even argue that it may be time for East to turn democratic.  It may be difficult now,  but there are factors that show a systemic crisis on the rise and Guangcheng and his supporters on Weibo show this.  Not only that, but they are receptive to change and new technologies are giving them a new perspective.  As much as government officials try to fight the rise of technology in China, the great Chinese firewall can't censor an idea once it has started to spread.  Digital activists and citizen journalism is on the rise, as news of Guangcheng hits the states. Guangcheng, with the use of Weibo by his supporters are giving the Chinese new means to be innovative, so long as they continue to stay one step ahead of the government.  If a blind self taught lawyer is a threat to the red state, than the future of the Chinese, technology, and democracy is sure to become China's next nightmare.

The Role of Ustream in Citizen Journalism

Ustream.tv is a site where users with commonly available consumer technology can broadcast footage live to potentially large audiences over the Internet. According to Ustream's mission statement, their goal is "to bring people together around shared interests for amazing live, interactive experiences that build and maintain relationships." While the site does occasionally host pay-per-view content, and is used by some major media providers, it is largely a community-driven site that gives regular individuals the chance to broadcast their own experiences. With everything from action-packed protest footage to a live stream of kelp forests, Ustream hosts a large array of content with the potential for great journalistic significance.

Earlier this week, our class spoke with Sam Gregory of Witness.org. While Gregory emphasized that his efforts were more in line with witness journalism rather than citizen journalism, this premise of empowering average individuals to take an active role in broadcasting their experiences rests at the heart of both of these concepts. During the conversation, Gregory mentioned that Witness.org was developing iPhone apps that would enable users to better shoot and share footage on their mobile device. In a similar sense, Ustream actively encourages users to become citizen journalists by downloading their smartphone apps, available for both Android and iPhone. While this might grant users better access to tools that can empower them, the casual nature of such simple broadcasting also poses potential issues concerning the safety of both the individual behind the camera, and the individuals who may be present in the frame.

In the context of citizen/witness journalism, Ustream is interesting not because of what it offers to the user, but because of what it doesn't offer. Unlike sites like Witness.org or YouTube where the user has the ability to consciously decide what footage to upload and pass on to the world, Ustream's video sharing capabilities are live and in-the-moment. While a user with the smartphone app does consciously decide to open the app and start shooting, there is no secondary process to censor or limit the footage. Unless an individual on the other end is watching footage that has been archived and replayed, the experience of using Ustream is instantaneous.

This also poses a potential threat for powers that might otherwise wish to limit video footage leaving a particular situation, as you cannot erase footage that has already been transmitted live across the world (though one could technically limit or prevent the ability for the saved footage to be replayed on the site). However, such a technological advantage is dependent on a stable connection to the Internet. Thus, in many conflicts pertaining to human rights in remote regions, Ustream may never be a valuable tool in the hands of witnesses, as such a stable Internet connection may be hard to come by. This may be the reason why footage of Occupy protests is much more common on the site, in comparison to protests such as those occurring in Syria.

Another interesting aspect of the site is its potential for two-way communication. While it might prove difficult for such communication to occur in dangerous situations, more casual uses of Ustream often take advantage of the site's chat and message features during live broadcasts. In a recent example, musician Scot Bradlee posted on the social news site Reddit.com that he was going to spend the day taking requests to play ragtime-style versions of songs that users suggested. His endeavor, now archived on the site, gained over 26,000 views total throughout the day. While this particular use of Ustream might not have constituted a breaking-news event that might change the world's political landscape, it nevertheless speaks to the immense potential for these technologies to empower otherwise anonymous individuals to broadcast their message, and let their voice be heard.

Occupy coverage from Twitter

Twitter can be considered a lame social media. My mom thinks Twitter is for Twits but Twitter can be used as a powerful tool for citizen journalism. Right now Occupy strikes are being broadcasted around the world, mostly from Twitter. I have been following Occupy Oakland on Twitter and feel a sense of urgency to to be part of the movement. Although the only thing I can do to spread the word is to connect the links on my FB and blog about it in class, my re-tweeting will hopefully inform people who are unaware of what is going on. The media will only share the filtered version during a brief segment on prime time TV but reading the tweet updates every minute really gives readers a connection to the event taking place. Strike footage can be followed at the Bay Area May Day site. This example will hopefully show how Twitter can be used as a journalistic tool.

A Question from Twitter

"Parks and Recreation" is a mockumentary series highlighting the idiosyncrasies of the government and bureaucracies alike. This past week's episode continued to follow character Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) in her campaign for city council. It featured the debate between her and her opponent, Bobby Newport (played by Paul Rudd). During the debate, the question panel was played by the journalist characters from the show, who had been notoriously exploitative and ego-centric. They decided to take a question for the candidates from Twitter, sarcastically explaining that, "apparently, that is something we do now." To play up the irony of Twitter users being held to the same accord as the journalists, the Tweet was self-indulgent and rife with short-hand text jargon such as using "2" in place of the word "to," that the questioner struggled through reading.

Silly as it may seem, the show points to a very real phenomenon that is happening amongst the news and politics today. The opinions of the "average citizen" is now being gauged through social media platforms, and users are being encouraged to use their power through these sites to get involved in the media feedback cycle. All shows and businesses are now promoting the use of Twitter as a way of the audience "getting involved" in the entertainment they are consuming. Politicians and news anchors are constantly asking people to Tweet questions and reactions to their guests on the show.    But how much power are we really willing to acquit to the general public? Sure, it is great increase accessibility and to receive publicity on the internet, but in this episode of "Parks and Recreation," we can see how opening the power that was once reserved for professional journalists has the potential of reducing serious journalism to a mere mockery.

Citizen Journalism App.

Citizen journalism within the last couple decades have lead to many controversies such as the Rodney King case.  Recently, a Middle Eastern entrepreneur, Mark Malkoun developed an app called Signal that lets users upload content through their smart phones.  Citizen journalism has been an important aspect in providing insight on different aspects of a certain event or phenomenon that is sometimes bias when portrayed through large media outlets.
A prime example of this is when the riots among the racial minority were occurring in France and an individual named Alex Chan.  He created a cartoon film called The French Democracy, in order to depict the ideological side of the rioters who were immediately detained and silenced by the French government without question.  Mark Malkoun's app is extremely helpful for citizens to voice their side of the story where censorship and propaganda plague media outlets with bias news. Axel Brun's analysis on the dichotomy between mainstream and off-mainstream media is important in this case because the app provides an alternative perspective to first tier media content. Especially in the Middle East where tensions of war and political debate is fierce, it serves as a useful tool for citizens to voice their opinion.

http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/04/15/this-citizen-journalism-app-that-lets-you-create-the-news-and-decide-which-story-matters/?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=share%2Bbutton&utm_content=This%20citizen%20journalism%20app%20lets%20you%20create%20the%20news%20and%20decide%20which%20story%20matters&utm_campaign=social%2Bmedia

http://archive.org/details/thefrenchdemocracy

Citizen Journalism

        Nicholas Leeman, the author of "Amateur Hour" on TheNewYorker.com, discusses the concept of "citizen journalism" where people who aren't employed by actual news organizations publish works on these news sites. The categories of material have appeared to be very distinct, including that of pure opinion (often political) as well as information (which has often already been published by another media source). Out of the 12 million bloggers in the United States, a reported 34% of them consider it to be a form of journalism. Although it may be more or less than some may think, it is obviously a skewed survey seeing as the data has to have been taken from a sample size rather than the entire population. 

        However this does not hide the fact that the number of web journalists has rapidly increased over the last decade, with this concept of "citizen journalism" having both positives and negatives. Many people aren't aware of the true story behind their publishings/postings but are creating an enriched version of the original story, or are re-wording it- often referencing links to professional sites and stories. The editor-in-chief- of Oh My News explains that news isn't made only by George Bush, Bill Gates, etc. but by people thinking collectively as well. However he doesn't support his argument that the news from the people is any more legitimate than these politicians/business men who are higher up on the social ladder. Mass media has transformed from pamphlets and periodicals to online blogging; publishings are often biased, ignore, or suppress important stories and facts, many also just pass on information that is told and present them as reality. A positive development however, is the opportunity to create discussion with news organizations online. Readers can pose questions to reporters and debate the opposing side and bring in facts that may have been originally ignored. In the opinion of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, "Many unknowns can do it better than the lords of the profession". Adding to citizen journalism is the role of the eye witness; everyday people accidentally experiencing some sort of disaster or significant event, who are able to take photo's and videos providing raw material and information for journalistic purposes. 

        Leeman explains that, "Societies create structures of authority for producing and distributing knowledge, information, and opinion. These structures are always waxing and waning, depending not only on the invention of new means of communication but also on political, cultural, and economic developments." Because of the vast amount of citizen journalism sites and posts, they often reach small, specialized audiences while the old-fashioned big-city newspapers and television networks make a more legitimate and widespread impact. In referring to the internet Leeman says that, "Potentially, it is the best reporting medium ever invented." in relation to the actual good journalism that is provided by some sites, such as Yahoo!

OhmyNews:OhmyChallenges

The Founder of OhmyNews: Mr. Oh

In his article “Gatewatching, Gatecrashing,” Bruns praises that citizen journalism is the true second-tiered form of media than alternative or tactical media. He also argues that citizen journalism “provides a pathway for off-mainstream news sites as they progress beyond a purely tactical stance, avoid the simplistic oppositional posturing of alternative media, and develop into a fully formed second tier of news media” (257). Therefore, citizen journalism allows participants to become a hybrid “producer” where they not only consume but produce media at the same time; this ultimately causes the news to have omni-perspectives rather than dictated solely by journalists.

OhmyNews is a South Korean model of citizen journalism founded by Oh Yeon Ho. It’s central idea is that “every citizen can be a reporter.” This site is unique in that it provides opportunities for anyone and everyone to become a “paid” reporter if he or she decides to register with the website. Initially started out as an attention-grabber for providing innovative public platform to the users, now it grew bigger and is constantly confronted with various challenges.

Publishing about 150 stories daily, OhmyNews catergorized about a third of them to have been written by professionals and the rest by citizens. Another one third of the citizens’ works is regularly rejected due to unverifiable facts or inappropriate topics. But there is a catch: if the authors of the rejected articles decide to attend the writing workshop and learn how to “re-polish” their stories, they get a second chance at publishing their stories. The real question was how many of them would devote their own time out of secondary school and go back to school to take these courses. So far, this phenomenon has provided good reasons for journalists to reaffirm the fact that majority of the ordinary citizens are simply not cut out to be professionally participating in the realm of digital media without proper training.

The economic depression also plays a part: “the bad encouragement.” The subscribers can pay “tips (better known as the donations)” to the articles they like, and this has become a big motivation for some. AndrewGruen, an OhmyNews journalist, claims that the biggest payment he received from the public was an amount of $20,000 in US dollars. If this incentive stimulated large amount of bad quality articles, now it is influencing to make people stingy. Less money equals less motivation to some, and less motivation leads to less participation.

However, despite its troubles and competitions from alternative competing citizen media platforms, OhmyNews is still thriving. It is still trying to employ demoncratic measures to ensure that everyone has a voice. It has become a useful and productive source of media as well, which was seen in the South Korean election of 2002. It is led to think that amongst many reasons for Preisdent Roh’s victory, one of them is the favorable articles written by many citizen journalists supporting his campaign which changed many voters’ perception about him.

This is a real example that citizen journalism is not a joke. It’s not just simply about writing their opinions on the blogs without thinking about the consequences; their voices can influence a nation, where another instance can be seen with Wendy Chun’s story about the Mad Cow disease. This right to express is given freely to everyone, but it is important to note that it should be used with responsibility and caution.

Wiki Journalism

In "Wiki Journalism" Paul Bradshaw discusses wikis, "…Web based applications that allow multiple authors to add, remove, and edit content in a process of collaborative authoring." (241). Wikis have been known for hosting project plans, encyclopedia entries, scientific research, and much citizen journalism. Although there are some very amateur wikis, theres are some that are quite legitimate through monitoring. Wikinews for example, requires that sources be cited and verifiable and that field notes must be presented in terms of reporting. With all the benefits of wikis, even mainstream new organizations have begun to use them internally. Multiple journalists are able to collaborate, access, and edit information at once, create dialogue, and translate articles to and from other languages. One of the most controversial aspects of wikis, is that of user-generated content or citizen journalism. People are able to post their opinions, ideas, and knowledge of a subject and in some cases edit what is already written. This can be seen as a positive when the content is accurate, however it is very common for material to be biased or straight out wrong. I once had a professor that was an extreme opposer of using wikis as sources for our papers and craved to make his point about why they are an illegitimate source. After handing out the prompt for a paper, he looked up the subject on wikipedia and wrote a bunch of nonsense about it that was completely irrelevant and inaccurate to see if any students would use the information in their papers. After grading, he said a surprising amount of what he wrote had reappeared in his students' work- noting that a few days later his strange edits to the wiki had been removed and the original version was restored. With the 5 different kinds of wikis, from second-draft, to crowd sourcing, supplementary, open, and logistical, there is no doubt that they are beneficial resources, but hold weaknesses in terms of vandalism and inaccuracy.