The Evolution of Technology - Citizen Journalism

Communication technology has evolved rapidly in the last decade. Coming from early cave drawings to cell phones and the World Wide Web is an impressive turnaround for humans, but the last decade has seen unprecedented growth. This has allowed everyday people to become more connected and more involved in how the media is produced and perceived. Tools like cell phones and video cameras have become essential to citizen journalism.

Citizen Journalism is journalism conducted by non-professionals using the internet, social media, websites, and blogs, etc. This blog post you are reading right now is actually citizen journalism! The fluctuation of citizens particpiating in the media has been beneficial to many aspects of the ever changing landscape of the news and media. For one, citizen journalism has become an essential tool for first hand accounts. There are very few events that are not captured on a video camera or cell phone now. This is intact journalism and plays a vital role in professional news outlets today. Another large benefit to citizen journalism is a manner to get information out to the public in countries that have restricted press. Organized press can sometimes be cut off or limited by governments, citizen journalism can be a great tool to get the truth out to the public about a situation.

While this method of journalism has many great benefits it also has its drawbacks. Participants can be harmed during the process of conducting their journalism. Often times people get into war zones or quarantines in order to get footage or details. This is a danger to them and those around them in these scenarios. The validity of news is another concern when regarding citizen journalism. Since the outburst of citizen journalism, the line between real and 'Fake News' has become muddy. It is becoming more and more difficult to tell what is real, what is somewhat real, and what is fake because of the rise of technology and the presence of citizen journalism.