Today we will be discussing the rise of Citizen Journalism in Nigeria at large. But first we have to discuss what Citizen Journalism really is before moving to the issue of the day.
Citizen Journalism also known as public participatory or public Journalism, guerrilla or Street Journalism is when the public play an active role in the process of collecting, analysing, reporting, and disseminating information. Courtney C. Radsch defines Citizen Journalism "as an alternative and activist form of newsgathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream Journalism.
Citizen Journalism refers to the information by the public using the Internet to spread the information. It can be simple reporting of news and facts that is ignored by large media companies and this is easily spread through the use of personal websites, blogs, microblogs, social medias e.t.c. Some also act as a check the reporting of larger news outlets by providing alternative analysis.
Citizen Journalism should not be misplaced with Civic and Community Journalism which are practiced by professionals. Collaborative Journalism is also a separate concept practiced by both professional and non-professional Journalists collaboratively as the name implies. Citizen Journalism is a special form of both Citizen media and user generated content. New media technology such as social networking and media sharing websites in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular telephones, smartphones, Windows e.t.c have made Citizen Journalism more accessible to people across the globe because of the available technologies such as smartphones, tablets, Ipads, Laptops and so on.
History of Citizen Journalism
The idea that every citizen can engage in acts of journalism has a long history in the United States. The contemporary citizen journalist movement emerged after journalists began to question the predictability of their coverage of events such as the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Those journalists became part of the public, or civic, journalism movement, which sought to counter the erosion trust in the news media and the widespread disillusionment with politics and civic affair. Initially, discussions of public journalism focused on promoting journalism that was"for the people" by changing the way professional reporters did their work. According to Leonard Witt, however, early public journalism efforts were "often part of 'special projects' that were expensive, time-consuming, and episodic. Too often these projects dealt with an issue and moved on. Professional journalists were driving the discussion. They would have the goal of doing a story on welfare-to-work (or the environment, or traffic problems, or the economy), and then they would recruit some of citizens and chronicle their points of view. Since not all traditional reporters and editors bought into this form of public journalism, and some outrightly opposed it, reaching out to the people from the newsroom was never an easy task." By 2003, in fact, the movement seemed to be petering out, with the Pew Center for Civic Journalism closing its doors. With today’s technology the citizen journalist movement has found new life as the average person can capture news and distribute it globally. As Yochai Benkler has noted, “the capacity to make meaning – to encode and decode humanly meaningful statements – and the capacity to communicate one’s meaning around the world, are held by, or readily available to, atleast many hundreds of millions of users around the globe.” When the First Amendment of the US Constitution was adopted, “freedom of the press” referred quite literally to the freedom to publish using a printing press, rather than the freedom of organized entities engaged in the publishing business. The printers of 1775 did not exclusively publish newspapers; instead, in order to survive financially they dedicated most of their efforts printing materials for paying clients. The newspapers and pamphlets of the American Revolutionary era were predominantly partisan and became even more so through the turn of the century. They engaged in little news gathering and instead were predominantly vehicles for opinion. Thh passage of the term “journalism” into common usage in the 1830s occurred at roughly the same time that newspapers, using high speed rotary steam presses, began mass circulation throughout the eastern United States. Using the printing press, newspapers could distribute exact copies to large numbers of readers at a lowincremental cost. In addition, the rapidly increasing demand for advertising for brand-name products fueled the creation of publications subsidized, in large part, by advertising revenue. It was not until the late nineteenth century that the concept of the “press” metamorphized into a description of individuals and companies engaged in an often-competitive commercial media enterprise.
The Rise Of Citizen Journalism In Nigeria
Millions of Nigerians have signed up for social networking sites and numerous audience-driven online citizen journalism sites and discussion forums. A lot of excitement now surrounds the overpowering potential of citizen journalism. The birth of Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, has given birth to a new era of new media tools signaling unbounded possibilities for citizen journalism. Through the use of the internet, emerging sites that aggregate views, information, news, comments and diverse opinions have opened a new frontier of possibilities in the way news is produced, distributed and consumed. More importantly, it has brightened the hope for a participatory and interactive process. Prior to the advent of the internet and its full appropriation by the media and by ordinary Nigerians, the traditional or mainstream media held sway. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television dominated the media landscape as the major source of news. Nigeria’s newspapers and magazines were the strong in news and information dissemination, though only about ten of the newspapers such as Punch, Vanguard, This Day, Nigerian Tribune, New Nigeria, Champion, and Guardian dominated. Later we have the likes of The Nation, Daily Trust, The Sun and Premium Times they have all been impressive. One of the major triggers of citizen journalism and user generated content was the near absence of audience participation, interactivity and the seemingly undemocratic nature of the Nigerian traditional media. Journalists at this point were acting like secular priests and delivered lectures and sermons in addition to being unwilling to share their space. However, the emergence of the internet and its early inroad into Nigeria in the early 90s began a silent revolution in the media and particularly the relationship between the audience and the professional journalists working in the traditional media. The earliest way the traditional media employed the new internet technology was through the use of email for electronic communications and later to surf the World Wide Web for information. This was largely made possible by local internet service providers (technology companies) such as Linkserve and Hyperia which also aided the increase in technology based content in news gathering and distribution.
The central trigger for the emergence of citizen journalism in Nigeria was political. A vacuum of progressive and investigative content and civic engagement was left by the traditional media shortly after the departure of the military from power. This era in which journalists defied anti media laws and proscription and continued to publish underground and disguise became known as ‘guerrilla journalism’. The media set the agenda for the return to democratic rule, respect for human rights, rule of law and demand for accountability. These characteristics later became the very ones upon which present day citizen journalism now thrives. With the return of democratic rule in 1999 the media went to sleep. Believing its work was done, the media and civil society became passive and almost besotted with power.
Citizen Journalism often report breaking news more quickly than traditional media reporters. We have the likes of Lindaikeji, Naijaloaded, Nairaland all have worked through to the increasing point of disseminating news better than traditional medias.
Apart from these we have other Citizen Journalism platforms that are still rising an seriously aiming higher for example we have;
JTownconnect; is an online platform created mainly for Jos City Artiat/Entertainers. Not exempting other upcoming artists all round Nigeria and Africa at large who wish to have their songs/videos published on their site.
Mezynaija; is also an online platform that focuses more on News and Entertainment, it bring to you latest News as it breaks.
9jacircular; is an entertainment portal which gives you hottest Entertainment News about your favourite celebrities Home and Abroad.
Allround9ja; is an Entertainment platform which operates to deliver proper, up-to-date, complete, dependable information to all Nigerians and the world entirely.
Hayaanda; is also an Entertainment platform for the latest celebrity gossip.
Apart from these rising Entertainment blogs we also have the likes of:
Newsbeatportal: which brings to you latest political gist as it happens in Nigeria and across the globe.
Akintoms: is a tech blog which gives you all the gist in tech and tutorials, also we have Techgistus which is also a tech blog bringing to you the latest tweaks, tech gist and tutorials.
We have lots and lots of Nigerians involved in Citizen Journalism and I hope to feature them on this blog.
Hope you enjoy this post, comment below if you have any questions or you have anything to add up....Thanks for reading.
Citizen Journalism also known as public participatory or public Journalism, guerrilla or Street Journalism is when the public play an active role in the process of collecting, analysing, reporting, and disseminating information. Courtney C. Radsch defines Citizen Journalism "as an alternative and activist form of newsgathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream Journalism.
Citizen Journalism refers to the information by the public using the Internet to spread the information. It can be simple reporting of news and facts that is ignored by large media companies and this is easily spread through the use of personal websites, blogs, microblogs, social medias e.t.c. Some also act as a check the reporting of larger news outlets by providing alternative analysis.
Citizen Journalism should not be misplaced with Civic and Community Journalism which are practiced by professionals. Collaborative Journalism is also a separate concept practiced by both professional and non-professional Journalists collaboratively as the name implies. Citizen Journalism is a special form of both Citizen media and user generated content. New media technology such as social networking and media sharing websites in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular telephones, smartphones, Windows e.t.c have made Citizen Journalism more accessible to people across the globe because of the available technologies such as smartphones, tablets, Ipads, Laptops and so on.
History of Citizen Journalism
The idea that every citizen can engage in acts of journalism has a long history in the United States. The contemporary citizen journalist movement emerged after journalists began to question the predictability of their coverage of events such as the 1988 U.S. presidential election. Those journalists became part of the public, or civic, journalism movement, which sought to counter the erosion trust in the news media and the widespread disillusionment with politics and civic affair. Initially, discussions of public journalism focused on promoting journalism that was"for the people" by changing the way professional reporters did their work. According to Leonard Witt, however, early public journalism efforts were "often part of 'special projects' that were expensive, time-consuming, and episodic. Too often these projects dealt with an issue and moved on. Professional journalists were driving the discussion. They would have the goal of doing a story on welfare-to-work (or the environment, or traffic problems, or the economy), and then they would recruit some of citizens and chronicle their points of view. Since not all traditional reporters and editors bought into this form of public journalism, and some outrightly opposed it, reaching out to the people from the newsroom was never an easy task." By 2003, in fact, the movement seemed to be petering out, with the Pew Center for Civic Journalism closing its doors. With today’s technology the citizen journalist movement has found new life as the average person can capture news and distribute it globally. As Yochai Benkler has noted, “the capacity to make meaning – to encode and decode humanly meaningful statements – and the capacity to communicate one’s meaning around the world, are held by, or readily available to, atleast many hundreds of millions of users around the globe.” When the First Amendment of the US Constitution was adopted, “freedom of the press” referred quite literally to the freedom to publish using a printing press, rather than the freedom of organized entities engaged in the publishing business. The printers of 1775 did not exclusively publish newspapers; instead, in order to survive financially they dedicated most of their efforts printing materials for paying clients. The newspapers and pamphlets of the American Revolutionary era were predominantly partisan and became even more so through the turn of the century. They engaged in little news gathering and instead were predominantly vehicles for opinion. Thh passage of the term “journalism” into common usage in the 1830s occurred at roughly the same time that newspapers, using high speed rotary steam presses, began mass circulation throughout the eastern United States. Using the printing press, newspapers could distribute exact copies to large numbers of readers at a lowincremental cost. In addition, the rapidly increasing demand for advertising for brand-name products fueled the creation of publications subsidized, in large part, by advertising revenue. It was not until the late nineteenth century that the concept of the “press” metamorphized into a description of individuals and companies engaged in an often-competitive commercial media enterprise.
The Rise Of Citizen Journalism In Nigeria
Millions of Nigerians have signed up for social networking sites and numerous audience-driven online citizen journalism sites and discussion forums. A lot of excitement now surrounds the overpowering potential of citizen journalism. The birth of Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, has given birth to a new era of new media tools signaling unbounded possibilities for citizen journalism. Through the use of the internet, emerging sites that aggregate views, information, news, comments and diverse opinions have opened a new frontier of possibilities in the way news is produced, distributed and consumed. More importantly, it has brightened the hope for a participatory and interactive process. Prior to the advent of the internet and its full appropriation by the media and by ordinary Nigerians, the traditional or mainstream media held sway. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television dominated the media landscape as the major source of news. Nigeria’s newspapers and magazines were the strong in news and information dissemination, though only about ten of the newspapers such as Punch, Vanguard, This Day, Nigerian Tribune, New Nigeria, Champion, and Guardian dominated. Later we have the likes of The Nation, Daily Trust, The Sun and Premium Times they have all been impressive. One of the major triggers of citizen journalism and user generated content was the near absence of audience participation, interactivity and the seemingly undemocratic nature of the Nigerian traditional media. Journalists at this point were acting like secular priests and delivered lectures and sermons in addition to being unwilling to share their space. However, the emergence of the internet and its early inroad into Nigeria in the early 90s began a silent revolution in the media and particularly the relationship between the audience and the professional journalists working in the traditional media. The earliest way the traditional media employed the new internet technology was through the use of email for electronic communications and later to surf the World Wide Web for information. This was largely made possible by local internet service providers (technology companies) such as Linkserve and Hyperia which also aided the increase in technology based content in news gathering and distribution.
The central trigger for the emergence of citizen journalism in Nigeria was political. A vacuum of progressive and investigative content and civic engagement was left by the traditional media shortly after the departure of the military from power. This era in which journalists defied anti media laws and proscription and continued to publish underground and disguise became known as ‘guerrilla journalism’. The media set the agenda for the return to democratic rule, respect for human rights, rule of law and demand for accountability. These characteristics later became the very ones upon which present day citizen journalism now thrives. With the return of democratic rule in 1999 the media went to sleep. Believing its work was done, the media and civil society became passive and almost besotted with power.
Citizen Journalism often report breaking news more quickly than traditional media reporters. We have the likes of Lindaikeji, Naijaloaded, Nairaland all have worked through to the increasing point of disseminating news better than traditional medias.
Apart from these we have other Citizen Journalism platforms that are still rising an seriously aiming higher for example we have;
JTownconnect; is an online platform created mainly for Jos City Artiat/Entertainers. Not exempting other upcoming artists all round Nigeria and Africa at large who wish to have their songs/videos published on their site.
Mezynaija; is also an online platform that focuses more on News and Entertainment, it bring to you latest News as it breaks.
9jacircular; is an entertainment portal which gives you hottest Entertainment News about your favourite celebrities Home and Abroad.
Allround9ja; is an Entertainment platform which operates to deliver proper, up-to-date, complete, dependable information to all Nigerians and the world entirely.
Hayaanda; is also an Entertainment platform for the latest celebrity gossip.
Apart from these rising Entertainment blogs we also have the likes of:
Newsbeatportal: which brings to you latest political gist as it happens in Nigeria and across the globe.
Akintoms: is a tech blog which gives you all the gist in tech and tutorials, also we have Techgistus which is also a tech blog bringing to you the latest tweaks, tech gist and tutorials.
We have lots and lots of Nigerians involved in Citizen Journalism and I hope to feature them on this blog.
Hope you enjoy this post, comment below if you have any questions or you have anything to add up....Thanks for reading.
hahaha...u evn included d names of d guys baq at NBF. nice 1 o jere
ReplyDeleteyes o they re all my bosses
ReplyDeleteya they are those I learn from
ReplyDelete