SOCIAL MEDIA &

CITIZEN JOURNALISM
I. CITIZEN JOURNALISM
1. What is citizen journalism?
- the use of mobile phones and video
cameras by members of the public to record
news events on film (Macmilian Dictionary)
- Citizen journalism refers to the public
citizens who are playing a role in the
process of collecting, reporting, analyzing,
and disseminating news and information to
other people.
2. What do citizen journalists
do?
 Represent citizen voices
 Give you the information you can not find
anywhere else
 Tell you what is happening on the streets
 Express the human rights
3. Frameworks
 Inferential structure: The information is not
fully determined by experimental or factual
data but depend on subjective choices in
data treatment

 Hierarchy of credibility: the credit given

depends on social hierarchy
4. What contribute to the rise
of citizen journalism?
 New media technology
 The decline in deference to authority
 Deterioration of trust in official institutions
5. Citizen journalism criticism
 Unregulated
 Too subjective
 Amateurish
 Haphazard in quality and coverage
 Not totally trustworthy
 May lead to different interpretation
 Timely
Discussion question

Citizen journalism brings democracy or

anarchy or stupidity?
II. SOCIAL MEDIA
1. Social websites-Who are they?
“interactive web platforms via which individuals and
communities share, co-create, discuss and modify
user-generated content”
Ex:
- Collaborative projects: wikipedia
- Blogs and microblogs:Twitter
- Content communities: Youtube
- Social networking sites: Facebook
- Virtual game worlds: World of Warcraft
2. Characteristics
 Real
 Virtual
 Anonymous
- Express the “true” nature of their attitudes
- A laboratory to test new identity before
embracing them in everyday life
 Amplify the voice of grass roots: create fresh
opportunities for popular ,mobilization, protest
and participation in the political process
3. Social media and freedom of
speech
 Social media plays the role of support and
orientation of public opinions
 There is a thin line between freedom of
speech and defamation
 State control: “freedom of media” must
comply with certain laws and regulations as
well as censorship