ALJ301

WEEK 3: User-generated content and the changing news cycle

As time passes, people are consuming more news from more sources.  It is fascinating to see that many years ago people would acquire their news from newspapers, radios, and televisions.  According to Mike Game, the chief operating officer of Fairfax Digital, in today’s society, “people are turning to the internet for breaking news.” 

The internet and technology has changed the way people present news and how they obtain their daily news.  Citizen journalism emerged when the London Bombings took place in 2005.  Everyday people are contributing to news as we become more technologically advanced.

From blogs, to moblogs, to vlogs people are interacting with technology by writing online, capturing news with their mobile phones, and viewing news through online videos.

Wikipedia also encourages volunteer reporters to write articles. It then allows other people to correct their work if it needs correcting.

So should we see user-generated content in a positive ‘light’ and accept that people don’t need to be a journalist to be a journalist? Or should we see it as a detriment to the way news is produced and that it should be left up to the experts to gather and present the news?

Unfortunately, journalists can not always be where the action is. Citizen journalism is allowing journalists to obtain information without being present.  However, journalists can not always trust the content that is obtained by citizens.  There needs to be a balance between the citizen and the journalist in order to obtain quality news.

 REFERENCES

Quinn, S. and Quinn-Allan, D. (2006). “User-generated content and the changing news cycle” in Australian Journalism Review, volume 28, number 1, pages 57-60.