The Impact of the Rise of Citizen Journalists for Mainstream Media

There is no doubt that journalism has changed from what it was in the past. The new form of journalism has its benefits, but many journalists would argue that there are major problems with today’s media, especially in its news coverage, that would negate the benefits of this new era of journalism. The biggest problems with today’s media coverage are the emotion driven bias of news articles and the struggle to report the truth to the general public.

The power and consequently the responsibility of media, especially mainstream, is something that shouldn’t be underestimated. It often sets the agenda amongst the general public and is the reference point for the majority of the discussion surrounding it. For many, what they see and read in the media forms the basis of their opinions on most important topics. Despite warnings not to, many believe that everything they read in the media must be true.

Today’s mainstream media has a deep influence on numerous aspects of economical and social life, it provides information and data almost on everything that happens on our planet. Mainstream media became one of the most important and influential instruments in our society, as the news stories reach a large numbers of people in a short time. Different people are using mainstream media as a first source of information; humans need the information, which is why there is a great deal of trust on media. We follow the news because it is our duty as citizens to be informed; it gives us the facts that help us make the right decisions and also gives us something to talk about. The media has a great public responsibility in front of their audience;

In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (“SQs of Media Outlets”). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quick information, with a purely impartial view on the facts as they are known. However, this modern media system has not maintained an objective view, pushing opinionated and slanted reporting onto the population in order to create profit and gain customers. The exploitation of information media for personal gain has created a toxic and inaccurate present, constant in today’s society.

The mainstream media focuses on the viewers and what the viewers would like to know. Most people watch the news to obtain information about what is going on in the world. If the topic that is brought up on the news sounds interesting or sounds like it will affect the viewer will watch to see what is happening. Appealing to the emotions of the viewer will make the person want to know more and see what will happen. The consumers of the information tend to believe what they see or hear. Viewers tend to believes these sources because a news network may be based on the same political views as the viewer. Some people will not watch certain news networks because of what is put out there about the political aspect of the world. Although that is one of the reasons viewers watch the news, the views may just be watching this one news network because it may be the only network available to the person. Viewers care about can be seen with the eyes, since not everything a person

Since the beginnings of American society, America has used news media as its primary tool to distribute information. Media is involved in nearly every aspect of everyday life. From morning until night, citizens are constantly bombarded by media images on television, radio, magazines, and the internet. However, since the mid-2000’s, one form of media has dominated the social landscape. This type of media has entirely changed the way other media connects with its viewers. It has shifted the power of information from the select few to the masses, from the broadcaster to the audience. It has given the individual voice a pedestal. It has made information faster, busier, more streamlined, more hectic, more interactive, all at the

Nobody can doubt that the role of mass media in the present-day life is extremely important for a society. Mass media aims not only to inform, educate, and entertain people, but also influences the way they see the world; it may change their views and, in general, mould public opinion. Except for newspaper reports, radio and TV broadcasts, with the help of the Internet people have an unlimited access to the most burning news and tons of important information, and as a result, they lose the possibility to evaluate the information flow critically. Despite the liberal activity of journalists, they are always dependent on political powers that are in control. Thus, there is a problem of news media bias helping to create necessary political spin in the society.

Mainstream media has gotten to the point where it is becoming less credible with each passing day. Many mainstream news sources, usually favor one political view over another and tend to force their personal views on the viewer. Bias in the media is when people believe a certain thing about a group or person that is not necessarily true, this can cause conflict because others might believe something that is not true. All six mainstream media have different beliefs on how to induce their topics to the public, sometimes with no proof to back it up. There are several current events happening, however some may have news that can be interpreted as bias. Some Individuals believe news channels by simply reading or hearing about a topic. Citizens

In almost every aspect of politics, digital media plays a major role. Most people go online to read headlines and see what’s happening in the world. From providing articles on political topics to allowing the possibility of furthering campaigns by micro targeting, digital media helps people gain a better understanding of the political world around them. Also, digital media allows for the spread of information from various sources, allowing for people to form well-informed opinions. Digital media is easily accessible and always available making it convenient for all people. It also allows for politically express themselves, making them feel more involved in politics. Citizen journalism is news that is reported and distributed by citizens. It is an extremely important benefit that digital media offers. Citizen journalism has proved to be extremely important through the role in Arab Springs and more recently on the Dakota Access Pipeline. With access to sites such as mobile phones, YouTube, Facebook Live, citizens can report incidents with ease. While other sources of media for various reasons (including profits) might overlook or not show two sides to a story, citizen journalism allows that to happen. (WTP,

This change significantly alters who the journalists work for. The journalists' “primary commitment is to the public” (Kovach and Rosenstiel 73), however, the public itself has greatly changed. Public standards for journalism are at an all time high and they require journalists to be the “people's surrogate, covering society's waterfront in the public interest” (Kovach and Rosenstiel 96). Technology can help with this expectation but, especially in today's day and age, it can also lead to outside factors such as the possibility for more profit to influence one's loyalty to the citizens. Donald Trump has garnered a lot of attention with his remarks. Many journalists have been asked by their supervisor to cover what he says as it is “good for publicity”(Voorhees 3). It is frustrating to see that news channels are abusing technology and exploiting the audience's trust in order to sway the audience towards a certain ideal. Some have forgotten that the purpose of journalism is to allow citizens to 'self-govern'. Without the journalists' loyalty to the citizens, there would not even be a bridge and audiences would be left to figure out daily occurrences on their

There are two major perspectives on what role the media occupies in the current political landscape: Pluralist and Marxist. Those who support the pluralist perspective see the media as performing two essential tasks, “(1) it informs the public and (2) it acts as a watchdog on those in power” (Edkins, and Zehfuss 157). The second perspective on the media, the Marxist perspective, takes the following view, “For Marxists, the ruling class uses the media as a tool of persuasion: they try and convince everyone that the hierarchical structure of society is serving everyone’s interests, not just their own” (Edkins, and Zehfuss 158). The unifying trait of these perspectives is the belief that media is influential in the formation of public

The world has become a much smaller place thanks in part to the creation of the internet. Now, we are able to communicate and interact with larger and more diverse groups of people than we were able to in the past. We are no longer confined to the physical space which we occupy, but we are free to become members of a global community. Thus, we are exposed to various people, cultures, identities, and conceptions of the human that we were ignorant to previously. At the same time, the internet also drastically revolutionized our relationship with the media. As discussed by Henry Jenkins in his book Covergence Culture: Where New and Old Media Collide, the relationship can no longer be accurately described as one between “media producers” and “media

In fact, the digitisation is one of the main motivations behind the the transformation of journalism, including news values, professional ethics, newsroom administration and working environment. The Mapping digital media research indicates that the digital media not only changed the news expression in developed countries, but also influenced the way journalists worked in emerging markets. Digital media brings opportunities as well as risks and challenges to the news.

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.

In this era, the popularity of citizen journalism has spread throughout all over the world. As a matter of fact, more and more people are starting to take benefit of content publishers. This can be seen in Television news, such as winter snow photos, traffic accidents or local sporting events. However, it leaves a question, what exactly is news anyway? What do you need to be a citizen journalist? What is its impact on today's fast-paced society? Basically, a lot of people think this is a great thing and it can be a good tool for promoting interaction between the media community and the community. There are pros and cons of citizen journalism, we need to face this issue critically and dialectically (Techopedia, 2017). On the one hand, citizen journalism has some benefits that professional journalism can not provide. Firstly, comparing with professional journalism, citizen journalism provides a wider range of news and fills the gaps in mainstream media. The main body of the dissemination of citizen journalism is ordinary citizens rather than professional journalists or professional media. People can through the Facebook, microblog,Twitter to publish news which happened around their life. Delicacy, beautiful scenery, sports events, entertainments, political commentary can be seen in Weibo, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Secondly, citizen journalism could stimulate the interest of audience. Most audiences enjoy reading