2. Case 1 : BSF CJ Jawaan Tej Bahadur Yadav
Subsequently, dismissed
from services for
misconduct.
Disgruntled soldier
complains about bad
quality food served to
soldiers
Posts videos, and
narrates sufferings over
social media that goes
viral
This gives rise to a
nation-wide controversy
3. Observations
Jeopardized his career
Brave, courageous
Jeopardized career
Exposed shortcomings
Eventually, a positive outcome
Tarnished army reputation
Anonymous, no formal training
Treated for misconduct
Faced outburst from various news media
4. Role of technology
The Power of Technology has empowered every citizen to create his own
content for news stories and disseminate to mass audience.
● Mobile, Internet users > TV viewers
● Growth and pervasive nature of social media
● Increased awareness among consumers
5. Features
● User generated content
● Original reporting of local, obscure events and disasters
● Eye-witness accounts
● Commentary on news stories that appear in mainstream media
7. Definition
“Individuals are playing an active role in the process of collecting,
reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information”
“Citizen journalism is slowly being looked upon as a form of rightful
democratic ways of giving honest news, articles etc. directly by citizens of
the world from anywhere.”
- Source Watch: a project of the Centre for Media and Democracy
8. Definition
“Citizen journalists are ‘the people formerly known as the audience’, are those who
were on the receiving end of a media system that ran one way, in a broadcasting
pattern, with high entry fees and a few firms competing to speak very loudly while
the rest of the population listened in isolation from one another— and who today
are not in a situation like that at all”
“Think of passengers on your ship who got a boat of their own. The writing
readers. The viewers who picked up a camera. The formerly atomized listeners
who with modest effort can connect with each other and gain the means to speak—
to the world, as it were”
- Jay Rosen, Professor at New York University
9. Benefits
“ Captures the moment, and not the aftermath.”
“The importance of the news stories is intact, but differ in a manner that
mainstream media is predisposed to agenda, while citizen journalism has a
predilection to educate viewers/readers about an issue that needs their immediate
attention.”
10. Is it a threat to mainstream media??
It is a highly contested debate
11. Akash Soni, Journalist, TeDxRamjasCollege
Death of singer Amy Winehouse [July 2011]
● News first broke out on Twitter
● #amydead; 20 million tweets
● 6-7 hours until confirmed reports emerged
12. Akash Soni, Journalist, TeDxRamjasCollege
Death of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa [Dec 2016]
● Confirmed report of death was revealed sequentially, carefully.
● News finally let out after a period of 14-16 hours.
● Fear of mass suicides committed by her bereaved followers.
● Journalists (who knew) refrained from tweeting, as a matter of journalistic responsibilities and
understanding of the sensitivity of the critical situation.
● It became important to let the followers assimilate the possibility of such an event than to receive an
abrupt shock of it.
13. Is it a threat to journalism??
Waqar Zaka
Pakistani TV show host
Living on the edge, XPOSED,
King of Street Magic, Desi
Kudiyan
14. Is it a threat to journalism??
Waqar Zaka travels to Arakan region of Myanmar to record a
video document of Rohingya muslims and extend financial aid
to them.
15. Is it a threat to journalism??
Zaka mocking UN General Secretary Ban-ki-
moon
16. Is it a threat to journalism??
Zaka depressed, crying
18. Conclusions
● Citizen Journalism is still a developing phenomenon, existing since
the inception of the Internet.
● It may be too early to dismiss CJ as preposterous, or pronounce it as a
threat to traditional journalism.
● It’s evident that media has evolved drastically in tandem with
technology, and, subsequently CJ has influenced and enriched the
traditional media.
19. References
•“Citizen Journalism Phenomenon” – opennewsroom.org
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HNxWNcYJbU – Akash Soni TEDxRamjasCollege
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TWEE442xig&t=120s – Waqar Zaka in Burma
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAA8zcmkK4&t=540s – Waqar Zaka in Burma
