The following morning, Prof Lineon stopped Digitella as she was walking down the corridor. “Interesting post last night,” she smiled. “You say that professional/ mainstream journalists offer credibility to the media – does this mean that mainstream journalists are more credible than citizen journalists?”
“Absolutely!” Digitella said, emphatically, standing up for her future colleagues.
“I suggest doing a little more research on the topic before making a decision,” Prof Lineon gave Digitella a knowing look over her wire-rimmed glasses, before walking off.
That afternoon, Digitella and Mo sat down to search the Net and Digitella could not believe what they found … later that day she wrote:
“In my last entry I said that professional journalists would only be under threat from citizen journalists if they failed to be credible reporters – well, we have been warned.
Over the past few years, the South African mainstream media industry has been bombarded with plagiarism lawsuits, article fabrication and misleading headline allegations. Here are just a few:
• Elle magazine editor Cynthia Vongai plagiarised an article originally published (ironically) on a website: askmen,com.
• Sunday Times reporter Ranjeni Munusamy leaked a story to the City Press, alleging that Head of National Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was a spy – the editor then ran an article with the headline: “Was Ngcuka a spy?”
• A Daily Sun reporter fabricated a front-page hijacking story
• The Cape Times and Business Day fired columnists for plagiarism.
Each of these incidents has led to the gradual decline in professional journalist credibility. One reporter has gone so far as to say that he no longer reads mainstream media, and relies on blogs, and other independent citizen –run news sites as sources of information. Perhaps, said reporter is being a bit melodramatic. There are still many flaws in citizen journalism, especially online. The vastness of the Internet and the lack of any kind of filtering system allow anyone to post information and label it as citizen journalism.
Without any formal codes of conduct to live by, truth and credibility are often missing in citizen journalism. But, in an online interview, co-editor of the independent news site scoop.co.nz, Selwyn Manning says that citizen journalism is not necessarily untruthful. In fact, he proposes an interesting theory that citizen journalism has developed because people have started to realise that they can’t trust everything they read in newspapers, or watch on television.
Perhaps then it is professional journalism’s very lack of credibility that has led to the rise of citizen journalism – without a need to question what is said in mainstream media and to report on issues otherwise ignored by professional journalists there would be no need for citizen journalism … it’s an interesting thought.
The bottom line is – professional journalists better start playing the credibility game by checking facts, living up to professional codes of conduct, viewing all sides of an issue, and not being swayed by advertisers or government officials. If not, professional journalists stand to come a close second to citizen reporters.”
Digitella felt disheartened as she posted her entry. Sipping her coffee, she could only wonder what her future may be …
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Episode 5 - The one where Digitella talks credibility
Digitella’s Monday morning journalism lecture seemed to drag on for light years. When the bell finally rang, she made a run for the door, but was stopped by her lecturer, Prof Lineon.
“I hear you are blogging about citizen journalism,” she said, logging off her computer. “As a student getting a degree in journalism, I was interested to hear your thoughts on this article.”
Prof. Lineon pulled a sheet of printing paper out of her desk drawer. “Do you feel threatened by everyday people on the street who are now able to do what you do for less money?”
Digitella scanned the article and later that afternoon, frantically sat down to write:
“Over the past few weeks that I have begun to immerse myself in the world of citizen media and all it has to offer, I never for one moment questioned what the rise of citizen reporters would mean for my future career as a professional journalist.
In an article for Bizcommunity.com, Chris Moerdyk writes that news media owners can take advantage of this recent wave of citizen journalism and cut ever-increasing costs by slashing editorial staff numbers and using content produced by unqualified, citizens. After all, why should media owners pay staff R3.50 a word, when there are millions of people who are willing to share their content for free?
Well then, what about me? Is getting a degree in journalism a complete waste? Will the role of professional journalists one day be obsolete?
My guess is – not likely.
Yes, citizen journalists come cheaper; yes they may very well be better writers and photographers than those brandishing honours degrees. But, why then are professional journalists still more trustworthy than blogs and user-generated content? Why do citizen media sites like Digitaljournal have a small editorial staff of professional journalists who check articles before they are published?
The answer is - credibility.
I believe what citizen journalists lack is an understanding of the media they are working with and how to best report on an issue. Over the past few months, I have been taught that reporting should be fair, accurate, and balanced. It should be unbiased and present issues in such a way so that people can make up their own minds. It is these qualities that give professional journalists credibility.
But, what exactly is credibility? The dictionary defines it as “the quality of being believable or trustworthy". For a media producer it means, among other things, getting all sides of a story, and checking the facts.
I do feel that citizen journalists can pose a threat to professional journalists, but only if professionals fail to be credible reporters of news.
In a recent presentation, Dan Gillmor says that “[journalists] must maintain core principles, including fairness, accuracy, and thoroughness. These … are essential if professional journalism expects to survive.”
The rise of cheap citizen journalists does not make me nervous, but it does make me aware that I need to work harder at establishing credibility through reporting that is fair, accurate and balanced.”
Digitella posted her entry with the feeling that she had just opened a can of worms …
Next week, Digitella delves deeper into the crevices of the professional/ citizen journalist debate.
“I hear you are blogging about citizen journalism,” she said, logging off her computer. “As a student getting a degree in journalism, I was interested to hear your thoughts on this article.”
Prof. Lineon pulled a sheet of printing paper out of her desk drawer. “Do you feel threatened by everyday people on the street who are now able to do what you do for less money?”
Digitella scanned the article and later that afternoon, frantically sat down to write:
“Over the past few weeks that I have begun to immerse myself in the world of citizen media and all it has to offer, I never for one moment questioned what the rise of citizen reporters would mean for my future career as a professional journalist.
In an article for Bizcommunity.com, Chris Moerdyk writes that news media owners can take advantage of this recent wave of citizen journalism and cut ever-increasing costs by slashing editorial staff numbers and using content produced by unqualified, citizens. After all, why should media owners pay staff R3.50 a word, when there are millions of people who are willing to share their content for free?
Well then, what about me? Is getting a degree in journalism a complete waste? Will the role of professional journalists one day be obsolete?
My guess is – not likely.
Yes, citizen journalists come cheaper; yes they may very well be better writers and photographers than those brandishing honours degrees. But, why then are professional journalists still more trustworthy than blogs and user-generated content? Why do citizen media sites like Digitaljournal have a small editorial staff of professional journalists who check articles before they are published?
The answer is - credibility.
I believe what citizen journalists lack is an understanding of the media they are working with and how to best report on an issue. Over the past few months, I have been taught that reporting should be fair, accurate, and balanced. It should be unbiased and present issues in such a way so that people can make up their own minds. It is these qualities that give professional journalists credibility.
But, what exactly is credibility? The dictionary defines it as “the quality of being believable or trustworthy". For a media producer it means, among other things, getting all sides of a story, and checking the facts.
I do feel that citizen journalists can pose a threat to professional journalists, but only if professionals fail to be credible reporters of news.
In a recent presentation, Dan Gillmor says that “[journalists] must maintain core principles, including fairness, accuracy, and thoroughness. These … are essential if professional journalism expects to survive.”
The rise of cheap citizen journalists does not make me nervous, but it does make me aware that I need to work harder at establishing credibility through reporting that is fair, accurate and balanced.”
Digitella posted her entry with the feeling that she had just opened a can of worms …
Next week, Digitella delves deeper into the crevices of the professional/ citizen journalist debate.
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