I, Reporter

What Is Citizen Journalism?

NOTE: At I, Reporter, we get asked this question quite often. So I thought I'd take a stab at providing a definition. This represents my view only -- feel free to disagree, question, or elaborate in the comments. I intend this to be the starting point of a discussion, not the last word.

"Citizen Journalism" is a clunky term that manages to be as open to interpretation as it is controversial. I tend to think of it this way:

Any effort by people who are not trained or employed as professional journalists to publish news or information based on original observation, research, inquiry, analysis or investigation.

Here's what that can mean, more specifically...

Could Citizen Journalists Have Saved These Lives?

I couldn't help but think about citizen journalists' potential role as tipsters, after hearing a fascinating talk over at Columbia Journalism School by David Barstow, the NY Times investigative reporter, about his 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on workplace safety at McWane Industries, a iron pipe maker labeled by the paper as one of the most dangerous employers in America.

One thing that jumped out at me in the remarkable discussion on how the series came about, and the varied and impressive range of techniques Barstow used to report it, was this –- despite the company’s deliberate indifference to worker safety, Barstow said no local papers near various McWane plants had ever touched the larger story. The weak quality of the local news organizations, Barstow argued, was further hampered by a mentality that left beyond question anything that seemed to contribute to the local economy.

Is it possible citizen journalism could have made a difference in this case?

Can Analysis be Citizen Journalism, too?

The practice of "citizen journalism" can, and should, encompass more than simple news reporting and first-hand accounts. It seems to me that people who self-publish analysis of current events, and who strive for objectivity and transparency in that effort (rather than agenda-pushing), are providing a journalistic service.

Of course, such analysts might not describe themselves as "citizen journalists." Case in point: Lately I've been reading an excellent weblog, "Econbrowser," by James D. Hamilton, professor of economics at UC San Diego. Hamilton is a talented writer, mainly because he appears to be a clear thinker -- that is, he has a gift for getting right to the point, in plain language. (At least in this blog; I haven't read his academic work.)

Check out this analysis of the economic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which he published yesterday: "The calm after the storm."

Here's why I think this piece could be considered an exemplary work of citizen journalism...