Who is a "Citizen Journalist"?

You can and should be, and there's free training.

By Lisa-Hayes Minney

Editor’s Note: Links are provided throughout this article to connect to source information and further details.

Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, and democratic journalism, is based upon members of the community playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. Wikipedia

The goal of citizen journalists is to increase civic engagement. Civic engagement, also known as civic participation, is when individuals or groups work together to address issues of public concern, whether political or non-political. It can involve actions to protect public values or make a change in a community.

Citizen journalists may be “influencers” as opposed to accredited “journalists,” but still have a substantial means of conveying their message to the general public.

It’s a slippery slope. Even today, Americans continue under the guise that news media should be objective — even though the requirement for objectivity in news coverage was lifted during the Reagan administration. If you want objectivity, I can only think of one place to find it — Dan Rather’s Substack, Steady. As for objectivity in any other media? It’s no longer a requirement.

Can there be objectivity in Citizen Journalism? And if it’s not required for the big networks, why would citizen journalists be held to a different standard? Can anyone (besides Dan Rather) be objective anymore?

I propose an interesting perspective concerning citizen journalists. Citizen journalists are witnesses. No one needs a journalism degree to share what they saw, heard, felt. History, culture, and news are comprised of stories. Our lives are our stories, and we are all witnesses in this world.

How many “viewer-submitted” or “reader-submitted” photos and videos do we see in the news these days? How many witness interviews have we seen? These days, nearly all “news media” is participatory journalism in some portion. Reporters once had to seek out witnesses of history to share their stories. These days, they can just search the internet, and connect via Zoom.

The Hyper-Local “News” Culture

For more than two decades, central West Virginia has needed some citizen journalism, and many have stepped up to attempt it. The forerunner (in my time here) was The Hur Herald, which stopped covering “news” and “current events” in 2021, but thanks to Bob’s and Dianne’s love of history and stories, now serves as an online history of Calhoun County.

There were at least two short-lived independent print newspapers which I can’t now recall the names of, and The Gilmer Free Press, which stirred up Gilmer County for several years. The first “independent blog” was an entirely too-long-running “Revenge of the Ghost Wolf,” fed by “The Secret Seven.” And now, we have The Ridgeview News and, of course, Facebook which offers several local “goings on” groups that work to promote local events, inform, and share tidbits of local interest.

Only two traditional newspapers exist in Calhoun/Gilmer - The Calhoun Chronicle (founded 1882) and The Glenville Democrat/Pathfinder (which technically, is two different newspapers, that look almost the same). In my soul, I am a newspaper advocate and subscriber, so I know both these newspapers very well.

The Chronicle is where I launched my journalism career in 2004, shortly after undergrad. The editor, Newton Nichols was old school journalism through and through. His father operated The Grantsville News (founded 1902), which had been absorbed by The Chronicle. Newton was a curmudgeonly teddy bear, The Chronicle’s respected final say and final touch on anything that reached print. For the most part, no matter who owned or published the paper, or how many writers and reporters came and went, Newton was the newspaper.

Newton’s health forced him into retirement a few years back and his main sidekick Bill (hired back in my day) also retired. The Chronicle is now, for the first time in history, owned by a non-local publisher, Mountain Media. The Chronicle no longer has a local physical office or local phone number. The editor’s position is considered a “remote” position.

In May, I served as the new editor of The Chronicle for nine days. (See Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and When God’s People Get Mean.) It didn’t work out so well because of a single community situation. My replacement as editor, Gaylen Dusky, is also an “old newspaperman” (whom I respect as a person and writer) but he’s no Carl Morris, and he’s no Newton Nichols. And, if his setup with The Chronicle is anything like my recent one, he’s limited to 20-25 hours a week.

Situations like this are developing in small towns and rural regions across the county. Gaps in reliable news coverage and factual presentation grow as the experienced and trained retire, more and more small newspapers close, and trust continues to wane. But citizen journalists can, and should, step up.

Participate, Witness, & Train

Power — who has it, who doesn’t — is an important aspect of citizen journalism. It gives power to the individual, not a media company, to share information with others. Citizen journalism allows communities to change their collective narrative.

“Citizen journalists may turn out to be the 21st century’s most potent force for creating, supporting, and building open and democratic societies. In environments where poor infrastructure, minimal access to technology, and small-scale economies impede the creation or sustainability of mainstream independent media… citizen journalists are filling the gaps.” Susan D. Moeller

According to We Media, a Web site hosted by The Media Center at The American Press Institute, “participatory journalism”—its term for “citizen journalism”—means, “The act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information.”

This participation intends to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging, and relevant information that a democracy requires. The downside? Citizen journalists often have no formal journalistic training, nor do they typically have training in the essential roles independent media play in ensuring accountable and transparent government.

But these days, media literacy is more important than any journalistic training or writing skill. In fact, in this day and age, media literacy is a survival skill. Media literacy is the ability to Access, Analyze, Evaluate, Create, and Act using all forms of communication. In its simplest terms, media literacy builds upon the foundation of traditional literacy and offers new forms of reading and writing. Media literacy is the ability to apply critical thinking skills to the messages, signs, and symbols transmitted through mass media. Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators, and active citizens.

Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators, and active citizens.
- The National Association for Media Literacy Education

Our world, nation, and tiny little towns desperately need us to become more media literate. The good news is - there are all kinds of free trainings online, for citizens, parents, teachers, and students.

First, meet The Media Monsters.

Next, print this “Decoding Media” Sheet.

Then download this overview from The Department of Homeland Security.

If you do nothing more than those three things, you are well on your way to becoming more media literate.

But if you are interested in developing your skills as a citizen journalist, consider the following resources:

• The Poynter Institute offers multiple free online courses related to visual journalism, reporting and editing, media literacy, ethics, writing, and more. There are FIVE free courses related to media literacy and fact-checking, and currently, FOUR free ethics courses that normally cost $50. In the Reporting & Editing section, countless free courses are available.

• If you aspire to become a citizen journalist and make a difference in your community, this article will provide you with 10 invaluable tips to amplify your impact.

• The ethics of Citizen Journalism have four core concepts.

• Here’s a free online course with 30 tools for building skills to search and process information, detect and recognize fake news, create content, and distribute it through social media and other traditional channels.

• Understanding the vast concept of bias — the expressing an intentional or unintentional preference for something such as a particular point of view, politics, ideology, interpretation of history, and so on.

• Reuters offers a free certification course in digital journalism to introduce best practices in digital journalism. Five modules tackle Digital Newsgathering, Verification and Reporting, Publishing Effectively on Social Media, Wellness and Resilience, and Operating as Independent Media in a Turbulent World. After completing the two-and-a-half-hour training, participants receive a digital certificate of completion.

• Citizen Journalism 101. This series includes several 20-30-minute recorded presentations on topics relevant to both individual citizen journalists and grassroots media organizations. Here, learn (or get a quick refresher) about how to report in a way that centers on lived experience, important points about press law, live coverage, social media engagement, and more.

• Here’s a list of basic skills and equipment needed if you’re really serious about it.

Go Forth and Witness

No one needs a journalism degree to share what they see, hear, experience, feel. Media Literacy is more important. Digital literacy (online critical thinking skills) is vital to the safety, security, health, and well-being of individuals and communities. Every individual plays an important role in recognizing and building resilience to false and harmful narratives. We are all witnesses in this world.