Journalism: Ethics and Democracy

First of all let’s ask an important question: What is a citizen journalist?

Citizen journalism is news by the people, for the people and it is extremely powerful. By powerful I mean it can take media in two very different directions. With citizen journalism the public can get their news and ideas out there on a grander stage than ever before using the internet and things like online magazines and/or blogs. Communities can make their local issues known to people all over the world so that others can help them come to or make use of solutions. Individuals can expose the news that is important to them to the whole world, an idea that The Long Tail is based upon-- a chance for every voice to be heard. People can again feel empowered knowing that yes, they can do something about the issues they care about, they can become better citizens if they know they really do have a voice. However, having the public play such an active role in the producing of news can also be damaging to the whole concept. Some people may be inclined to just make up news or exaggerate it; non-journalists may not be privy to or may not care about such journalistic ethics. There is also the matter of people who just want to produce news as a matter of propaganda for their cause, which brings me to the other direction citizen journalism can take us: The use of news outlets for setting an agenda. Citizen journalism can be a powerful tool to combat corporation/business controlled media outlets. Many major news organizations are controlled by corporations that use the “news” to promote their products, views, employees and/or bosses and anything else they want; you’ll see what they want you to see. Citizen journalism gives the public the chance to spread real news that people should care about, that people need to be hearing rather than corporate or political propaganda. In an article in NUJ Brussels, “We Stood Up For Journalism”, Thomas Hammarberg “advocated maximum transparency in media ownership, saying that this would have a considerable impact on the quality of journalism” and I totally agree with him.

Now that we know how corporations are adapting to digital media aka digital journalism—often by trying to use it to further their greedy agendas—let’s take a look at how others are adapting to it: Due to the massive amount of made up stuff on the internet, online news consumers have to get used to trying to figure out what are and aren’t reliable news sources. Consumers also have to decide whether paying for news is worth it for them or if they are satisfied with the free news they can find all over the internet. Consumers also have to decide what constitutes as news for them because what they consume most is what will decide what’s going to be the majority of what’s classified as news on the internet, for example, if people consider the results of last night’s episode of Dancing with the Stars news then that’s the kind of “news” that will dominate our news sites.

News organizations seem to not know what to do but scratch their heads trying to figure out what to do when it comes to the new era of digital journalism. Some fully embrace it but some fear the toll it will take on the structure and ethics of the industry. According to Cyra Masters, media insiders are torn as she showed in her article, “Media Insiders Say Internet Hurts Journalism”.

Some are quoted as saying things like: “The Internet has some plusses: It has widened the circle of those participating in the national debate. But it has mortally wounded the financial structure of the news business so that the cost of doing challenging, independent reporting has become all but prohibitive all over the world. It has blurred the line between opinion and fact and created a dynamic in which extreme thought flourishes while balanced judgment is imperiled” or “News consumption depends on news production, and I don't see anything on the Internet that produces news—that is, detailed responsible empirical journalism—the way newspapers do (or did). It is typical of Americans to get more excited about consumption than about production.”But some see it as a positive change: “You abandon the conceit that ‘newspapers’ equals ‘news,’ you realize that people have far more information available to them about current events than ever before, and that’s a great thing for both journalism (the gathering of news) and the public” and “It’s subjected journalists to more real-time scrutiny and opened the profession to talented people not affiliated with major media organizations”. Whichever side these insiders are on it’s clear that they want some form of legitimate journalism to survive. While in this limbo of not knowing what the future holds news organizations are doing things like charging for online subscriptions or changing the news content in ways that will improve reader/viewer ratings.

To keep our democracy alive and working we need legitimate news sources and outlets. Whether it is from citizen journalists or uncorrupted news organizations, for a proper democracy to work in the people’s favor we need someone out there getting us facts and information. We can’t have hidden agendas in our news, that is not democracy, that is manipulation. We can’t let cyber reporters slack from ethics just because they’re not writing on paper anymore. What we need to maintain is an ethical press above all else; A press that is not poisoned by the promise of large advertising dollars, or more exposure for individual journalists, one that maintains the principles of finding good, reliable sources and only prints facts. The people need to ensure that the news they ask for is the kind of news that really matters.

We also need a press that is spearheaded by the tenacity of investigative reporting and the flair, creativity and personal nature of gonzo journalism and other in depth styles. We cannot allow people that fight for the public and our democracy, even locals like Bill Spencer and Steve Wilson, to be pushed aside, because yes, their efforts are worth the extra money. Remember the accomplishments of solid journalistic practices: Upton Sinclair, Nelly Bly, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward and many more.

In ten years I don’t doubt that people will be reading the news off some tiny computer screen still but I hope that we’ve figured out a way to keep journalism an ethical business rather than just a profit seeking one. For the sake of truth and democracy we have to have someone working to tell the public the facts.