M4 12 – STEM J

CASTRO, Enrico P.

Answer the following questions:

There are news programs and social networking sites that provide segments for citizen
journalism.
What can you say about the manner of presentation of these segments?
Give 2 observable differences between a citizen journalist who is tapped to deliver a news
segment on TV and another who writes news on social networking sites.
______________________________________________________________

Citizen journalism is a type of journalism which sources information directly from those
involved. Another thing is that citizen journalism refers to the way that ordinary members of the
public (not professional journalists) collect and distribute information via the internet. These
journalists can give ordinary people a voice. This type of journalism allows members of society
to tell their version of the truth and not a filtered version. Credibility in a digital world where
social media sometimes provides a distorted perception of the news is a hard to grasp reality.
Being a mouthpiece for the masses is one thing, but continually striving for the truth is
intertwined with many opposing factors.

The manner of how these segments are presented is well-accepted and broad for us viewers as
we see the real-life perspective of the people who are witnessing the broadcasted situations.
Citizen journalism envelops the feeling that the journalist is experiencing in the current situation
whether it be empathy, anxiousness, or anger, It concurs the viewers to give feedback and
comments regarding the news, However, there could be a backlash in dealing with this type of
journalism. Some issues could be perceived to be one-sided or worse, some videos are tampered
with to gain their own benefits.

Basing on the platform that has been used and the media company that enable ordinary netizens
performing live news reporting plays a big influence as to how they fare when it comes to the
conduct of the reporting. A citizen journalist who for example provides news in the segment of
GMA News that goes by the platform I stand for Truth would be given ample training and
coaching prior to performing a report. In this segment a citizen journalist gets the chance to
deliver a report on a certain topic delving on the facts and working at a certain angle that catches
the interest of the public. It is observable that information garnered attracts the attention of the
audience and gives the spectator a chance to evaluate what is being reported and be amused in
the process. It is clear and presented properly. However, if compared to a regular vlog systems or
group page reporting, some of them seem to lack proper background investigation and at times
seem to be misleading. This is because news presented is not objective and directed to seeking
only to catch the most number of reactions or views thus clouding the real essence of news
reporting which is fair, free and objective. One will also observe that reports are provided in
mixed vernacular which seems to be the trend at present but decreases the importance of the craft
of presenting news at one particular language.
M4 12 – STEM J
CASTRO, Enrico P.

If what is to be discussed would be print media activities, one would distinguish immediately the
difference of a person trained formally in the art of newswriting since reporters with the proper
education and background tend to provide news articles following proper grammar and subtle
points of reporting. Someone with no background in news reporting would tend to be able to
garner more attention as catch phrases and method of writing is done in a feature type writing in
order to pry the interest of the reader to read forward. The news articles are rather short so as to
keep the interest growing and most probably due to the lack of further information being masked
by coming up with conclusion immediately. Though some citizen reporters are doing well, they
are a dime a few.

Thus it is important that as the reader or the audience, a level of assessment is necessary when
trying to conclude if news reported has all the basic facts before getting into a decision and
accepts the news as valid. This is the new trend of journalism today. Embrace it yet being
mindful is a necessity.