Citizen journalism, also called ‘street’ or ‘public journalism’, can be simply regard as when common individuals do essentially what professional reporters do – report information and broadcast news. They publish their news stories through internet and network technologies such as weblogs, podcasts, chatting rooms, message boards, wikis, streaming videos, mobile computing and other web-related innovations.
According to Steve Outing, citizen journalism can be classified into two main categories: semi-independent and fully independent. Semi-independent citizen journalism involves citizens contributing, in one form or another, to existing professional news sites. For instance, readers post their comments alongside stories done by professional reporters to add some information or in some cases, readers are asked to incorporate with the professional reporters by sending them useful information. (e.g., Bucks County Courier-Times; New Jersey.com ) Independent citizen journalism involves citizen journalists working in ways that they are fully independent of traditional, professional news outlets. There are blogs and websites run by an individual or a group of people that individuals can report on news events in the local community. (e.g., Daily Heights; Life Must Go On In Gaza & Sderot )
In my understanding, citizen journalists as “the people formerly known as the audience” are unprofessional but made realer, less fictional, more able and less predictable. Large news companies usually ask for corporation with those street journalists because they know those people are always first on the scene and hold the first-hand footage. They consider this network can be spread all over the world, so they pay for their footages, photographs and stories.
However, the citizen journalists are untrained and unprofessional, they don’t have much knowledge about relevant laws and they don’t realise their responsibilities to the consequences of capture pictures, sell them and release them. Citizens can be victims used by the authoritative news organisations or some radicals can take the advantages to make up stories and confuse public opinion. Who actually knows the truth?
According to Steve Outing, citizen journalism can be classified into two main categories: semi-independent and fully independent. Semi-independent citizen journalism involves citizens contributing, in one form or another, to existing professional news sites. For instance, readers post their comments alongside stories done by professional reporters to add some information or in some cases, readers are asked to incorporate with the professional reporters by sending them useful information. (e.g., Bucks County Courier-Times; New Jersey.com ) Independent citizen journalism involves citizen journalists working in ways that they are fully independent of traditional, professional news outlets. There are blogs and websites run by an individual or a group of people that individuals can report on news events in the local community. (e.g., Daily Heights; Life Must Go On In Gaza & Sderot )
In my understanding, citizen journalists as “the people formerly known as the audience” are unprofessional but made realer, less fictional, more able and less predictable. Large news companies usually ask for corporation with those street journalists because they know those people are always first on the scene and hold the first-hand footage. They consider this network can be spread all over the world, so they pay for their footages, photographs and stories.
However, the citizen journalists are untrained and unprofessional, they don’t have much knowledge about relevant laws and they don’t realise their responsibilities to the consequences of capture pictures, sell them and release them. Citizens can be victims used by the authoritative news organisations or some radicals can take the advantages to make up stories and confuse public opinion. Who actually knows the truth?
~~~ 
nice discussion about semi-independent and fully independent citizen journalism. In these day, everyone can be a journalist without professional training. This could be a real challenge to professional journalists ay?