Media & Tech: Citizen Journalism Post

This is going to be a slightly boring one, but brace yourselves: Today, we delve into the art of citizen journalism. I’ll be reviewing two articles that count as “citizen journalism” and summarize them.

1. Does mainstream media have a moral obligation towards citizen journalists?
The thesis of this piece is in the first paragraph: “As mainstream media increasingly relies on citizens contributing content, it raises questions of ethics and responsibility, risks and safety. Should media houses be morally bound to protect interests of those whose work they thrive upon?” Ultimately, the article argues that there are many accidental journalists who were lucky enough — well, unlucky enough, really — to be in the wrong place at the right time, smartphone in hand; these accidental journalists are often put in to the crossfire when mainstream media uses them. It includes all the brilliant little components of an argumentative piece.

2. Digging for dirt in the digital age: the trouble with journalism and doxing?
Doxxing (though it is called “doxing” by the original author) is very different from traditional journalism in that its investigative role is circumvented, if not entirely usurped, by people disclosing information online quickly, if not always accurately. “Without meticulous factchecking and verification, it is frighteningly easy to misrepresent or falsely identify people.” This purpose makes it incredibly dangerous — and popular on Twitter* — but also makes traditional, competent data-driven journalism even more important, so as not to spread misinformation and spark fires that needn’t be sparked. That said, “lack of investment in training, and even resistance to the need for digital competency, has created a skills gap. Most journalists lack the IT skills to access data in the same way hackers do.” This is VERY true, and makes deep diving increasingly difficult for journalists who fight against misinformation. This is primarily educational, but certainly has argumentative elements.

* Twitter, officially known as “X,” is quite a turbulent cesspool, which regularly sparks fires with half-truths. It also — occasionally — collaborates with infamous and real D0xx_Dawg.