THE CITIZEN JOURNALISM MANUAL…

1. A few definitions

Published in

PacificEdge

7 min readJul 30, 2022

The practice of citizen journalism enables us to motivate readers and viewers by telling stories in ways that are interesting, timely and relevant.

LET US DEFINE some of the terms we will come across in later chapters of Citizen Journalism.

Some terms are used interchangeably, such as ‘citizen journalism’ and ‘mobile journalism’.

Audience

The audience is the people who consume the products of journalism by reading, watching video, looking at stills photographs or listening to audio reports such as podcasts.

In Citizen Journalism the term is used in a general way to describe all of these means of consuming media products.

Journalist/journalism

A journalist can be defined as someone producing information for an audiences. Journalists use practices that enable:

verification — establishing the accuracy of the information they produce by providing evidence, direct or indirect to corroborate information
independence — freedom from control and influence of interested parties
accountability — taking responsibility and correcting errors.

‘Professional’ journalist

The definition of ‘professional‘ journalist has been blurred by online publishing.

In the days before the internet a professional journalist was considered to be someone who gained the majority of their income from writing or photography, who worked for a media organisation or was self-employed as a freelance journalist. Freelancers sell articles and photographs to publishers.

The definition of a professional journalist was employment-related, however now it carries a looser definition. It implies following journalistic standards, ethics and practices.

Citizen journalist

‘Citizen journalist’ is a term for which there is no single definition. It is commonly used to desribe a writer/photojournalist/videographer who is a reporter in the traditional sense of journalism and who may or may not have formal qualifications in journalism or mainstream media experience.

Most citizen journalists are not paid for their work by mainstream media organisations — the established print/online newspapers, TV and radio stations. They may gain an income by being paid for their writing/photography by a website that charges a subscription fee to its readers or through advertising carried on their websites.

The citizen journalist reports from outside the traditional media organisations that through the Twentieth Century were dominated by newspapers, magazines, radio and television. These now maintain an online presence, however they are usually staffed by journalists paid by the media organisation.

Citizen journalism emerged after the arrival of the worldwide web. Web publishing became more accessible after the release of the Mosaic web browserin 1993. Mosaic later became Netscape.

Citizen journalism started to properly develop as a new genre in journalism in the first decade of the Twenty First Century.

Mobile journalist — MOJO

Mobile journalism, commonly abbreviated to ‘MOJO’, is the practice of journalism on mobile, internet-connected devices. Smartphones, laptop computers, tablets like the iPad and Android equivalents, digital cameras and other portable devices are its tools.

Mobile journalist often gather, process and distribute material directly from the field. They might livecast video direct-to-internet.

Photojournalist/video journalist/videographer

A ‘photojournalist’ is someone who reports through the visual medium of photography. Today, the term has been broadened to include the ‘video journalist’ or ‘videographer’ who report news or produce documentary or other material through the medium of video production.

The availability of mobile phone cameras and video editing apps and software for tablets, laptop and desktop computers has broadened participation in video production for citizen journalism. Owning a s mobile phone does not make someone a photojournalist simply because the device has a camera and they know how to use it. Photojournalists adopt ethics and practices around their work of obtaining and processing images.

My use of the term ‘photographer’ includes videographers.

Blog

‘Blog’ was adopted as a shorthand term for ‘weblog’ at the time the worldwide web made online self-publishing possible.

Photoblogging/videoblogging

‘Photoblogging’ is the process of publishing photos and photo stories, usually accompanied by captions to context and add meaning to the images. ‘Videoblogging’ does the same thing with video footage.

The terms include livestreaming — distributing live coverage online.

Blogger

‘Blogger’ was originally adopted to describe someone with or without formal qualifications in journalism who publishes their work online. Now, the term encompasses professional and semi-professional (defined in this instance as someone making a full or part time living from journalism, not their quality of work) as well an enthusiast bloggers.

Not all bloggers consider themselves to be journalists or citizen journalists. Some publish fiction. Others write on some specific subject or publish educational or instructional material. Some publish opinion pieces (citizen journalists do this too) to which their detailed knowledge brings authenticity and insight to what they write. Others are advocates for something — advocacy journalism. Some include suggested solutions to an issue they write about — solutions journalism. Some publish memoir which informs readers of how people experienced life in past times. Memoir has close links with the study of social history.

Writing public relations copy is not journalism. It is marketing. Public relations positions products, businesses, organisations or individuals in a positive way in public. It is about creating perceptions around those things.

Audio journalism — radio and podcasting

Radio was once the only outlet for audio journalism. Programs were broadcast either live-to-air or recorded for later broadcast.

The potential to engage in radio journalism was limited by access to a radio station, ensuring that comparatively few had the opportunity to produce and broadcast their work. Radio journalism and documentary became more accessible with the arrival of community broadcasting in Australia in the 1980s. Aspiring radio news and current affairs journalists as well as those producing longer radio documentaries became volunteers producers at community radio stations. Community radio stations became training platforms for those seeking a career in radio (this was how the author came to work in radio current affairs and documentary while completing a degree in communications).

The podcast is an online audio file format that enables listening anytime and anywhere, unlike radio which broadcasts programs at specific times. Podcasting allows greater participation in audio production and distribution and does not require access to a radio station.

Digital recording and editing software allows interviews, music and other audio files to be uploaded to websites, broadening the media options available to the citizen journalist.

Mainstream media

The term describes the metropolitan newspapers and print magazines that have survived the coming of digital media as well as the television and radio stations, other than community radio. Community radio in Australia is generally not classified as mainstream media because it is operated mainly by volunteers, has programs targeting specific interest groups and lacks significant newsgathering capability and audience reach compared to mainstream radio. Much mainstream media is of the pre-internet vintage that now has an online presence.

Mainstream media, especially when its online forms are included, continues to reach audiences of significant scale and continues to be valued by those seeking publicity. Obtaining that is valued because it was difficult to obtain coverage in mainstream media due to space and time limitations.

Newsgathering

Newsgathering is the process of accessing news and information so as to bring it together into a report.

It involves attending events and other opportunities to gain still photographs (‘stills’) and video, interviews, research and audio recordings. These are then edited into media products and distributed.

Distribution

Distribution describes the different ways in which media products such as articles, video, podcasts and photographs are delivered to audiences.

It includes newspapers and print magazines, radio and television broadcasts, online newsletters/websites/social media/livecasting and podcast channels.