Evolution Of Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is on the rise while mainstream media struggles to stay afloat. This dissertation aims to show that mainstream media will be replaced by citizen journalism due to dishonest/bias reporting on mainstream media outlets.

Chapter 1 will talk about journalism and how it has changed over the years, as well as outline how citizen journalism rose to demand. Chapter 2 will look into academic sources to provide a critical analysis of the situation concerning mainstream media and citizen journalism. Specifically, it will look into research that supports the notion of the dissertation, as well as take into consideration research that shows otherwise and analyse them. Chapter 3 provides additional secondary research and theories to explain

However, over the years the public’s interests began to evolve; people wanted more than the run-of-the-mill reports on what is happening around them. As the public had various interests in mind, the media industry began to segment its audience, and the news they deliver along with them. Thus began the convergence of journalism and commercialization of news networks. Notably during the 1980s and 1990s, media companies were bought over by large companies. For instance, Loews Corp – a hotel and movie theatre company – bought over the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS) in 1986. This gave rise to mainstream media which, essentially, refers to major news outlets which are reasonably accessible to most of the

Citizen journalism is similar to journalism in terms of the nature of work, but citizen journalists are non-professionals and they are not paid for what they do; citizen journalism is essentially news reporting for the public, by the public. Consumption of news by the public has evolved over the years. The public are no longer passive audience but are active audience; they want to have a say or to provide their own input with regards to issues around them. Hence, it comes as no surprise when, the media began to provide inaccurate information, the public decided to do the reporting themselves. At first, the mainstream media encouraged citizen journalism, asking the public to share their content with the various media houses to gain credibility and also for their work to be seen by the masses. However, with the advent of the internet and technological advancements accelerating the growth of citizen journalism, citizen journalists are now fully capable of running their own websites and blogs, and even reach out to the masses without the aid of any media houses – notably due to the convenience of social media platforms and blogs, which are easily accessible with just a click. Citizen journalism proves to be a strong contender against the mainstream media and it seems that it is gradually becoming the preferred outlet for news consumption, which stands to highlight that