Week 11 - Internet & Journalism

What is journalism? It is a profession that involves reporting, photo journalism, editing news stories for one of the media. That is the traditional way of journalism. However now in the web 2.0, times have changed and with the introduction of the internet, people or citizens can hence encourage widespread distribution of information, news and the latest updates. One famous social networking site is Twitter, with an easy access of posting pictures or news.

With the use of internet, bloggers, Facebook users have an easy and free access of posting news almost instantly, because of the heavy use of mobile phones. Whatever they see, it will be noted, and pictures can become viral. It is different from the past because these news are normally not spread so far or quickly, and just kept within a close distance. However now news can spread as quick as a bush fire, and even worldwide. Hence we know what is going on in other countries, such as war, abuse and other such information.

It is impossible to stop citizen journalism just like the internet. There is just no rules, no control to what one can do. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and deserves their voice to be heard. However these news are captured by non-trained citizens, how trusted or reliable can these information be? Is it credible? It can be easily distorted by their own means.

An interesting thing that I found online:

A new app from the Global Media Forum called “Get it Right” provides a crash course in journalism, designed to improve the quality and reliability of reports delivered by citizen journalists…

While the promise of citizen journalism is significant, there is always the accompanying concern about the reliability of the reporting.

While numerous apps have been developed to support citizen journalism on the technical side, few have taken on the task of developing a reporter’s non-technical skill set.

In an effort to raise the standards of quality, Global Media Forum, a non-profit dedicated to training journalists, has released “Get it Right,” an iPhone app offering a mini-course in basic journalism.

"Get it Right" coursework

Billed as “A field guide to practical and critical thinking for citizen journalists,” the app takes would-be reporters step by step through the reporting process, from the equipment they’ll need to the questions they will need to ask and verify.

It offers a series of exercises designed to help citizen journalists develop their news sense, frame their stories, and improve their writing.

So if you wanna start citizen journalism, try out this! It might help.



Photo journalism has become very prominent in the news sector, because a picture can speak a thousand words. Pictures cause people to reflect, and the information is very clear.