As technology becomes more and more widespread, it is safe to say that nearly everyone has a smartphone on them. This smartphone becomes the tool of the “citizen journalist”, with Internet access to share information or opinion, plus a camera to take videos and photos. And with no filter over what can be shared on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and WordPress, citizen journalism is everywhere.
Citizen journalism is a new way of gathering information, created within the movement from a consuming audience to a prosuming one. This kind of journalism threatens traditional news outlets simply because of its ease, reach and immediacy. But without a gatekeeper, there is no way of filtering the factual, good information from the rest. As my lecturer said to us once, “any nine-year-old with a camera can be a journalist”.
