The Rise of Citizen Reporting: An Analytical
Exploration of Professional Journalistic Attitudes
towards Participatory Culture
Aimee Carney
Dissertation - LB601
Student number: 13822223
Date submitted: 05/05/2016
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of BA (Hons) Multimedia Broadcast Journalism.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to give special thanks to my supervisor, Abigail Wincott, who supported me at all stages
of this dissertation. I couldn’t have done it without your guidance, enthusiasm and motivation.
To my seven journalist interviewees: Flora Thompson, Bex Bastable, Aidan Barlow, Paul
Francis, David Gazet, Sheena Campbell and Bess Browning. Thank you for taking the time
out of your busy work schedules, buying me drinks, and answering my questions to participate
in this research project. You were each the individual, magical Horcrux I needed to conquer
this long journey. Your taking part was very much appreciated.
Lastly I’d like to thank my family, best friends and Jack for being my biggest support network.
You were always there to spur me on and gave me the advice I needed to keep going. Mum,
thank you for making me see the bright side of every situation. Dad, we did two dissertations
in the same year together. Thank you for your support. And finally, Nan, you persuaded me
one day to be the first woman in our family to go to university. This dissertation is dedicated
to you.
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ABSTRACT
This dissertation investigates and scrutinizes a prominent and controversial topic in the
contemporary world of reporting, the citizen vs. professional journalism debate. With an
exclusive emphasis on media industry professional attitudes towards participatory journalism
culture, it examines whether qualified individuals choose to welcome and utilise amateur
presence in today’s digital society, or, if they show similar concerns that this is affecting their
traditional values and challenging job authority and professionalism in the newsroom. The
central investigation not only looks into how a professional journalist reacts to the term “citizen
journalist”, but also focuses on whether the journalists interviewed are incorporating a key
strategy to maintain control over their dignity and identities as a working journalist, known as
‘news repair’ (Bennet et al., 1985).
A qualitative discourse analysis was carried out for this observation through semi-structured
interviews with seven professional reporters from local newspapers. The data collected
conveyed that five key themes were shared amongst the professional journalists when
discussing the impact of citizen journalism. This included maintaining standards of
professionalism, being trained, using citizen j
ournalism to their advantage in the newsroom, how citizen journalism has involved their
communities and concerns for the future of journalism as we know it.
The outcomes of the investigation indicate that professional journalists are neither for nor
against citizen journalism, having neutralised the reported threat of citizen journalism, and are
choosing to adapt to the demands of amateur reporting and social media usage. The
conclusions drawn from the study can also confirm that ‘news repair’ is being employed in the
modern newsroom today.
Keywords: citizen journalism, professional journalist, training, professionalism, gatekeeping,
news repair
Words: 8000
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 5
1.1 Aims 5
1.2 Objectives 6
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1 The Participatory Journalist 6
2.2 Journalists as Gatekeepers 7
2.3 News Professionalism 7
2.4 Maintaining Journalistic Control 8
2.5 The News Repair Theory 9
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 10
3.1 Research Style 10
3.2 Research Methods 10
3.3 Interview Participants 11
3.4 Interview Questions 12
4. ANALYSIS 14
4.1 Analysis Introduction 14
4.2 Data Collection 14
4.3 Key Themes 14
4.3.1 Maintaining Standards of Professionalism 15
4.3.2 Training and Legal Awareness 16
4.3.3 Citizen Journalists as Sources 16
4.3.4 Community 17
4.3.5 Staffing Concerns 18
5. DISCUSSION 18
5.1 Journalists are working to Higher Standards 18
5.2 Traditional Journalism in Newsrooms 19
5.3 “We are trained professionals, whereas citizen journalists are not” 19
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5.4 Using Citizen Journalism to Their Advantage 20
5.5 Concerns for the Future 20
5.6 The News Repair Strategy 20
6. CONCLUSION 21
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 24
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INTRODUCTION
Journalists have contributed to our way of life for many years, acting as messengers to inform
society of its news in an authoritative way. Many scholars believe the role of the journalist
operates within an ‘interpretive’ community, with a duty to do so inside a public framework,
acting as a factual and definitive distributor of news and information to the people of the world
(Berkowitz, 1999 and Zelizer, 1993). Throughout the news industry, professional journalists
have worked alongside each other with a common discourse, the idea that they allow a story
to be told which is deemed best ‘suitable’ for the people. According to Bird and Dardenne
(1997), reporters have categorised themselves as being disassociated with other societal
groups: “[the] media are very much part of culture, but with a particular kind of privileged status
with it”. Some academics have stated that they believe the future of journalism is dependent
on professional journalists welcoming novices into their exclusive news environment, and
giving up parts of their cultural dominance in the process. Robinson and DeShano suggest,
through their own research, that there are advantages and disadvantages to the growing
phenomenon of citizen reporting: “Such a move could empower people to participate in
democracy when they have a direct stake in news production. And yet to value blogging
content on the same level as vetted news produced by professionals could be dangerous for
that democracy.” (Robinson and DeShano, 2011).
The inspiration behind this research project began through the researcher’s own interests in
participatory culture and how it impacts the field of journalism. Throughout the early stages of
research, there was a realisation that this new form of journalism may have an impact on
professional journalists who are working in the industry after years of training. Therefore, a
decision was made to find out information directly from professionals themselves to provide a
fresh outlook on the subject and to contribute the findings from this study to previous studies
surrounding citizen journalism.
1.1 Aims
This study aims to discover whether citizen journalism is being seen as a threat in the
newsrooms of local newspapers. Its purpose is to investigate the attitudes of professional
working journalists towards amateur journalism, and to understand why reporters may feel
they have a sense of entitlement in the work that they complete, whether they feel citizen
journalism is impacting their role as an important figure of society, or if they have instead
chosen to adapt by accepting this new era of modern reporting. The study will also explore if
the concept of ‘news repair’ (Bennet et al, 1985) is being incorporated in the day-to-day work
of professional journalists as a main strategy to negotiate their potential change in status.
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1.2 Objectives
The aims of this study will be met by the following objectives:
Qualitative interviews with seven local newspaper journalists will be conducted to
determine if there are any similarities or shared discourses in the responses when
discussing citizen journalism
The study will analyse any potential themes or patterns from inside the data collected
to develop ideas about professional journalistic attitudes towards the rise of citizen
reporting
By discussing how professionals deal with citizen journalism in their newsroom, it
hopes to reveal whether the news repair strategy is being used
LITERATURE REVIEW
The following literature review identifies what a citizen journalist is in contrast to the role of the
professional reporter, who have traditionally acted as gatekeepers and protectors of
information in order to remain within their shared discourse. It also looks into certain academic
elements that are the supposed ‘ingredients’ as to what makes a journalist a true journalist in
terms of professionalism, issues surrounding the need for professionals to maintain control
over identity and authority in the news industry today, and will discuss the academic theory of
‘news repair’ (Bennet et al. 1985).
2.1 The Participatory Journalist
In recent years, a different type of journalist has materialised. This movement, regarded as
questionable for the press, – is concluded by Wall (2004) as a sort of “black market” journalism.
Citizen journalism, often described as “alternative” media (Atton and Hamilton, 2008) – is one
that opposes the traditional journalistic model. Mark Glaser is a freelance journalist who often
writes articles on his website about issues surrounding new media. He describes a citizen
journalist as an everyday person, one who is untrained and not employed in a newsroom, who
often imitates the role of professional reporter by collecting, analysing and publishing news to
other citizens (2006). Here, Rosen (2008) describes the act of engaging in participatory culture
as one of independence and separation: “When the people formerly known as the audience
employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen
journalism”. His theory shows the stray from traditional expectations of news consumption to
a more liberating alternative, a public need for instant news on-demand, without any waiting
for a story to be published by an authoritative body. Glaser also believes that the controversy
over the term ‘citizen journalism’ lies mainly with professional journalists’ attitudes, who believe
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“only a trained journalist can understand the rigors and ethics involved in reporting the news”
(2006).
2.2 Journalists as Gatekeepers
Deciding what makes a person a credible journalist has always been particularly vague, and
the line is often blurred. According to Havemann (1966), a journalist “ceases to be [one] if he
cannot find an editor to print his product, and the editor soon ceases to be an editor unless
the product finds an audience that is willing to pay for it.” In simpler terms, Havemann positions
the role of the journalist amongst a hierarchy of people and practices, also known as
‘gatekeeping’. This theory has been used amongst academics and scholars alike to
understand the news-making process of “selecting, writing, editing, positioning, scheduling,
repeating and otherwise massaging information to become news” (Shoemaker et al., 2008).
To elaborate on this, it is defined as the “overall process through which the social reality
transmitted by the news media is constructed” (Shoemaker et al., 2001). After appropriate
selection for an audience, or after the influence of a powerful publisher helps to shape it
(Breed, 1955), a story is then published, or not as the case may be. Schudson (1989)
compares the gatekeeping model to teenagers trying to enter an X-rated movie or liquor
establishment; if people are attempting to ‘pass’ as adults, “how do you get a piece of
information to ‘pass’ as news?”. This suggested concept pinpoints the role of gatekeeper, and
simultaneously helps us to understand how the journalist feels a sense of pride and duty in
the work they do. They are the rightful people, in their opinion, to choose, select and filter
certain stories to be consumed, or not consumed, by the public sphere.
Despite this knowledge, Hanna Nikkanen, a journalist herself, argues in a published online
article that journalists are no longer authorised to call themselves gatekeepers because “the
public sphere no longer has walls or gates” (2012). Nikkanen also suggests that the
paradigmatic shift of news means there are no longer such constraints as to who gets to decide
what news to supply: “There are two billion internet users in the world. Each one of them can
publish a message without convincing a gatekeeping journalist of its importance” (Nikkanen,
2012). This is significant to the overall study, as an average citizen now has access to a
multitude of reporting tools even though they are not sat behind a desk in a professional
newsroom.
2.3 News Professionalism
The gatekeeping theory can also be applied to newsworthiness. Again, a qualified reporter
who has trained for years will understand the importance of what makes a story newsworthy,
compared to an amateur tweeting stories from a smartphone. In ‘Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations’
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(1992), Bogartto depicts newsworthiness in the famous news industry saying: “When a dog
bites a man that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is
news.”
Herbert (2000) suggests that the idea of professionalism is “central to the role of the journalist
as the watchdog of democracy and freedom”. The concept of professionalism has been
around for many years, however there is often a debate over what the term entails. According
to Kovach and Rosenstiel (2001), a valid journalist is made up of the following principle
elements: an obligation to truth, an independent citizen watchdog - as said previously by
Herbert (2000), a verified debate forum, news that is significant and comprehensive, and is
ethical in obligation.
In spite of the above ethical and industry standards professional journalists associate
themselves with, the London bombings in the summer of 2005 was a pivotal turning point for
journalism and encouraged journalists to step outside the norm of professional news values
and expectations. The actions of average people reporting the tragic event resulted in a new
term known as “accidental’ journalism” (Allan, 2009). Allan (2009) also states in his book
‘Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives’ how after the attacks, the “BBC knew that
newsgathering had changed forever”. Richard Sambrook, the then Director of the BBC’s World
Service and Global News Division, speaks about the impact citizen journalists had over
professional news corporations on 7th July 2005 in his write up article: “Our audiences had
become involved in telling this story as they never had before. By day’s end, the BBC’s news-
gathering had crossed a Rubicon” (2005). It was on this day that citizens and professional
journalists found a way to work together, disregarding any differences between them, and
helped each other to share the information they both had to the world.
2.4 Maintaining Journalistic Control
Anderson (2008) writes that the journalism profession holds an ideology of autonomous
expertise, whilst Singer (2003) also suggests a professional journalists’ purpose lies through
their ability to control information whilst being gatekeepers, watchdogs and guardians for
society. After interpretation of these academic statements, the underlying element concluded
is professional reporters feel a sense of entitlement, authority and credibility whilst doing their
job.
Although many skilled journalists believe the rise of citizen reporting has its downfalls, some
have chosen to utilise them as an additional source of information. Oh Yeon Ho, founder of
Ohmynews, an online citizen journalism news website, believes that “every citizen is a
reporter” (2000). Some may believe there is an element of truth surrounding this statement.
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We are all citizens who have access to digital devices in which we can actively choose to
participate in the conversation of news, however, there is often a common concern amongst
professionals in the industry who wish to maintain their journalistic status, control and
plausibility.
Deggans, a journalist who blogs for The Feed, shows in a table below his own personal take
on traditional news values regarded as the ‘old way’ of doing things, compared to what
journalism is like in modern society today.
OLD NEWS NEW NEWS
News is news News is marketing
Live shots compliment the story Live is the story
Staff experience is valuable One year is experience
Weather gets the attention it deserves Rain is a lead story
Cover breaking news Make up breaking news
Report the facts Report what people say
Follow the news director’s lead Who’s the news director?
(Deggans, 2008)
Here, Deggans demonstrates his sense of entitlement by showcasing the decline of traditional
values within his profession. Although fairly comical, this table of ideas compares and
contrasts how much the industry has rapidly changed over the years by on-demand
technology and average citizens taking journalism into their own hands.
2.5 The News Repair Theory
According to Baker (2015), when media conglomerates have encouraged user generated
content in the past through comment sections and upload areas, the stories citizens upload
have not always been researched or verified properly. Throughout the investigation, the
researcher wishes to discover if this can be embarrassing to paid journalists, who may not
want to feel their professionalism has been questioned because of a citizen journalists’ error
or inaccuracy. Journalists often feel a duty to correct a story, resulting in an interesting term
as stated by Bennett et al., (1985) called ‘news repair’, who suggest that all journalists feel an
obligation to construct and mould stories which conform to industry standard news structures
and values, even after a piece of amateur journalism has been published. According to
Robinson, “when a story skips the dominant frame, the news repair – a critique of the original
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journalism that relayed the story – allows the reporters to reel back the wayward story to
reaffirm their traditional standards of journalism to both the industry and the society at large”
(2006). This raises the interesting notion that journalists are effectively becoming real time
‘editors’, perhaps both in terms of the ‘facts’ presented to them by citizens, and indeed the
opinions arising from the facts. The above theories also refer back to the idea of news
professionalism and maintaining journalistic integrity; Robinson states the term ‘dominant
frame’, which suggests there is a feeling of power and control over the work of the
inexperienced. After having only come across the term ‘news repair’ throughout the early
stages of reading the literature, it will be interesting to see if this concept has been, or is being
applied in professional newsrooms today, when the data collected is looked through.
During the course of this investigation, the aims are to recognise the challenges faced by
people in a professional news environment, and their individual opinions surrounding the
issues of participatory culture, considering the journalistic outlook of “we write, you read” as
said by Deuze (2003).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Style
This chapter shall explore and identify the key research method(s) used for the study, why it
was the most practical approach to gather the necessary data in this investigation, and why it
was carried out in a particular way. The main focus for this dissertation, set out in the aims
and objectives, is to discover whether or not professional working journalists believe that
citizen journalism degrades and unsettles the industry they work for, their reasons behind this
and why they may, or may not, hold these attitudes. It was only logical to get this information
directly from professional journalists themselves by way of a qualitative research method.
3.2 Research Methods
Qualitative research is a method which has been applied many times throughout history for
social analysis and for discourse theoretical studies, such as this. Its primary objective is to
understand the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures, and how they make sense of
the world around them. According to Cruickshank (2012), “It is only with the aid of language
that ideas about reality and reality itself can be brought into existence”. Researchers have
used this technique to interpret and examine the behaviour, attitudes, perspectives and
experiences of people. The qualitative method is also useful when identifying transitions and
disagreements in society; therefore, it seemed quite a crucial and relevant method of approach
to apply to the area of study.
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The intention of the research is to find out how professional journalists feel towards citizen
journalists, those being the people who engage in participatory culture and user generated
content. This was found out through personal interviews with seven local newspaper
journalists. Personal interviews seemed the most favoured way to find out extensive
information about the rationale. This study involves the psychology of the mind of the
professional journalist and how their own personal beliefs could either contribute to the
journalistic stereotype of the “we write, you read” mentality, said previously by Deuze (2003)
in the literature, or whether this journalistic frame of mind is not present after all. After
arrangements were made, seven interviews were conducted over the course of four weeks
with professional working journalists who work at various newspapers in the South East of
England. This included four face to face interviews, and three organised through an email
conversation. Kvale describes the chosen qualitative methodology as “an interview, whose
purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-world of the interviewee with respect to
interpretation of meaning of the described phenomena” (1983). By engaging with the
journalists on a personal level and building a relationship with them, there would be a much
greater opportunity to get the best possible results to expand the understanding of the
research topic. Participating in semi-structured interviews and establishing a professional
relationship also meant any additional questions could be asked by contacting them back and
following up about something in particular.
3.3 Interview Participants
The search for participants began by looking through newspapers and browsing social media.
Journalists often leave their contact details in a byline of a published story or in their online
profiles, therefore this was an ideal way to find potential interviewees to collect the necessary
data. In an effort to increase the amount of responses from local reporters who are often busy
people, invitation emails were sent out to 50 journalists based in the South East, inviting them
to participate. Follow up emails were also made and dates were arranged for the face to face
interviews, as well as the email interviews. Many different people from a range of newspapers
were contacted, with various niches, to ensure that responses were impartial and not
influenced by the standards of one particular news organisation. Each journalist did not have
any issues regarding their identities being exposed in the research, however, the respondents
will be quoted by letter in the following analysis. Full names of the interviewees are listed below
next to their designated respondent letter, along with their position and news publication.
Respondent A: Flora Thompson is a senior reporter at The Argus daily newspaper, based in
Brighton.
Respondent B: Bex Bastable is the content editor at The Brighton and Hove Independent.
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Respondent C: Aidan Barlow is a reporter for two newspapers and one online news website
in Kent; The Kentish Express, The Folkestone and Hythe Express, and KentOnline.
Respondent D: Paul Francis is an award-winning Political Editor who also works for The
Kentish Express, based in Ashford.
Respondent E: David Gazet is a reporter who works for The Kent Messenger, based in
Maidstone.
Respondent F: Sheena Campbell is the content editor for The Hastings and St Leonards
Observer.
Respondent G: Bess Browning is a reporter for Faversham News, and also KentOnline.
3.4 Interview Questions
The following ten questions were analysed thoroughly for potential effectiveness before the
interviews took place and were answered by all seven participants listed above. At first there
were concerns that each interviewee may not be as familiar with the term 'citizen journalist'
compared to another journalist that was being asked the same question. As stated in the
literature review, there is often confusion over what a citizen journalist is, therefore, a decision
was made to acknowledge this by starting each interview in the same way by asking the
journalist an entirely open question: “From a professional journalistic point of view, how would
you define the term ‘citizen journalism’? What does it mean to you?”
In asking this outright, it meant that each participant would be able to bring forward their own
perception(s) and meaning(s) about the key term ‘citizen journalism’. This was a particularly
essential question to set the tone for the rest of the interview.
Each question below was designed to pinpoint whether a newspaper journalists’ beliefs
towards citizen journalism was strictly due to professional reasons, or otherwise, and were
constructed to investigate the potential layers of such a diverse and controversial topic under
exploration.
From a professional journalistic point of view, how would you define the term ‘citizen
journalism’? What does it mean to you?
Has citizen journalism had a positive or negative impact for you as a working
professional?
What advantages and disadvantages does citizen journalism bring to the media
industry and your newspaper in particular?
If anyone can be a citizen journalist, then what’s your role? What are professional
journalists here for?
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Do you follow amateur news? What citizen journalism do you deal with at your
workplace and what do you do with it?
Are traditional journalistic values such as newsworthiness, credibility and objectivity
outdated today amongst the rise of user generated content?
Have you ever felt the need to correct, or have corrected something a citizen journalist
has put online or otherwise due to an error or inaccuracy on their behalf? If so, why?
Is citizen journalism a threat to qualified journalists in the media industry who have
been trained throughout the years to understand the rigors, laws and ethics to report
the news in a professional way?
Is citizen journalism a good thing for professional journalists?
In your opinion, what distinguishes the professional journalist from the citizen
journalist?
The nature of the semi-structured interview meant that some additional questions were asked
by the researcher:
Do you believe citizen journalism is trustworthy information?
Is professional journalistic news trusted over citizen news today?
Is journalism a trade or a profession?
Are all journalists looking at citizen journalism in a neutral way?
The interviews were semi-structured in format which meant there was an opportunity to
intervene if something said was particularly interesting. This approach was applied to all
methods of interview, whether face to face or by email. Prompting was also necessary at times
to try to get the journalist to elaborate on something he or she was saying.
Although there may have been advantages to using a quantitative research method, in terms
of a survey or otherwise, using this instead of the chosen qualitative method would have
limited the study with regard to finding data that was far more insightful. By undertaking
interviews face to face, there were definitely slight advantages over the email interview. When
you are talking in real-time, you are able to use social cues. Even though the three email
interviewees didn’t restrict the research, as there was the option to follow up about something
with another email, it did limit the researcher in the way that the face to face interviews had
not. For example, when you liaise with someone over the Internet, you cannot see a change
in the interviewee’s body language, voice or intonation. Furthermore, as the questions were
asked online, the respondent would probably have had more time to think about what they
wanted to say. A qualitative interview without physically being there in person was restrictive
in terms of not being able to analyse an instant reaction to the said question, however the
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three email respondents were very helpful and descriptive with their answers; therefore it was
restrictive only to a certain extent. It was interesting to conduct the interviews in many different
ways, however, face to face interviews were more effective because it enabled the researcher
to expand on something and receive an answer in more depth.
The four face to face interviews were audio recorded from a Dictaphone. Audio recordings
were typed into individual transcripts and printed, along with the email interviews, to check for
any patterns, similarities or differences in any of the responses.
ANALYSIS
4.1 Analysis Introduction
As set out in the aims and objectives, this study seeks to analyse the attitudes of professional
working journalists towards those who engage in citizen journalism and participatory culture.
Depending on whether positive attitudes and assumptions towards citizen journalists outweigh
the negatives, or vice versa, this study aims to investigate if newspaper journalists are
choosing to maintain their traditional role as gatekeepers; those that are well-known in society
as the main controllers and disseminators of news and information, whether they utilise and
accept the evolution of citizen journalism, or if they believe it is threatening their status. The
concept surrounding professionalism will be analysed, and will also investigate if ‘news repair’
(Bennet et al., 1985) is being incorporated into the work of the everyday professional as a
strategy to correlate with their traditional gatekeeping function.
4.2 Data Collection
The findings within the data were analysed accordingly by each transcript, and each interview
question answered by the individual journalist was searched for an underlying theme or overall
idea. The transcripts were then read in depth and key words were chosen from each interview
to see if there were any similarities or any shared discourses in their responses. Paragraphs
of text were cut out and placed into a relevant pile, relating to a particular theme or idea which
was present, meaning certain patterns in the data were then established. Once the process
had been worked on for several hours to identify anything repetitive that was happening, five
key themes were found inside the journalists responses when discussing the topic of citizen
journalism and user generated content. In order of most to least discussed: maintaining
standards of reporting and professionalism, being trained and understanding media law, using
citizen journalism as sources for stories, how citizen journalism has involved the community,
and concerns about staffing.
4.3 Key Themes
4.3.1 Maintaining Standards of Professionalism
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The idea that citizen journalism has made the interviewees realise they must set the bar higher
for themselves in terms of their own journalistic work and standards was made by Respondent
A, C, D, E and F. When asked if citizen journalism is a good thing for professional journalists,
Respondent C said “I’d say it’s positive in the sense that it keeps us on our toes. It means that
we have to think about our jobs more in terms of what we’re reporting, and where we’re looking
for news”. Respondent F also shared a similar view: “Overall, I think it is a good thing as
monopolies are unhealthy for any industry and it has forced many of us to think differently
about the way we report stories, both online and in print”. Respondent C argued that there
was a particular risk to his newspaper if a citizen journalist were to break a story before they
do as it “undermines us as a credible news organisation, if we’re not being the ones to break
the exclusives”.
Accuracy, credibility and objectivity
Traditional journalistic values in the field, including newsworthiness, credibility and objectivity,
were talked about quite frequently from Respondent A, C, D, E, F and G. After being asked
whether they believed these values were outdated today in the rise of user generated content,
Respondent D, E, F and G all agreed that news values were still absolutely necessary in the
profession they work in. Respondent D and E both mentioned how citizen journalism had
made them realise that the phenomenon had “underlined the importance of that for established
media” and how traditional journalistic values were “more important than ever before to cut
through the rumour and set the record straight”.
Journalists as gatekeepers
Amongst the interviews, there was evidence that Respondents A and C identified quite closely
with the traditional role of the gatekeeper, although the term itself was never mentioned in both
the semi-structured interviews, or in any of the journalists responses. Although Respondent A
said she doesn’t follow “amateur news” but would “consider it as any other source of news”,
the term ‘scrutinize’ was mentioned several times when talking about how she deals with
citizen journalism at her workplace: “We treat it with the same kind of consideration and
scrutiny that we would with any kind of phone call from the public we have, and the first thing
to think is ‘is this a news story? Is this reputable information?’”. Respondent C believed that
citizen journalism could be trustworthy information, however there is “always a risk that it isn’t”.
‘Risk’ was said numerous times throughout his interview and the following quote refers back
to the traditional gatekeeping function of journalists: “There’s always a risk that you yourself
will have to go and check it as well, just to make sure it stacks up. So effectively, you’re just
doing what they should already have done but may not have the ability or training to do”.
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4.3.2 Training and Legal Awareness
Respondents A, C, E and F all made similar points about journalists being professionally
trained as one of the main distinguishing factors between them and citizen journalists.
Respondent A believes that citizen journalism is no threat to the industry she works in: “I don’t
think it will ever replace the kind of work that fully trained reporters do because there’s no way
that people will be able to uncover scandal or hold people to account”. She also argued how
journalism is a profession, as opposed to a trade, because of the amount of training that you
have to do over the years in order to do your job to a high standard: “There could be a lot of
people out there that like to think they’re a journalist, but turning round a press release is not
journalism and I think that will be the difficulty if there’s a citizen journalist website. It could
take them a lot of time to build up that reputation and reporters now, don’t get hired unless
you have all the training you need”. Respondent C emphasised the importance that journalists
have to be excellent writers, and in most cases, citizen journalists may not be able to write
exceptionally well: “When you read certain user generated content, a lot of the time when you
read it, you realise that people can’t write. They lack the certain abilities”. Although
Respondent D defines the citizen journalist as someone who has “not necessarily been trained
as a journalist” and has no “qualifications in related subjects, who have not worked in
established media”, he argues in his interview that readers do not necessarily put both the
professional and citizen into certain groups depending on whether they’ve been trained or not,
and also believes that mainstream journalists may begin to branch out and become citizen
journalists themselves “because they’ve got the training and they’ve got the understanding”.
Legal awareness
Respondents A, B, C, E, F and G spoke at different points throughout their interviews about
citizen journalists having no legal knowledge. Speaking again of citizen journalists being
‘risks’, Respondent C was asked what professional journalists are here for and referred back
to being trained: “We have to do a lot of media law training and reporting to make sure you’re
not libelling someone or defaming someone”. Respondent A believes that a “major fall-back”
in terms of citizen journalism, is the “lack of legal awareness, sometimes by people who
haven’t actually worked in the trade with the kind of things they can or can’t publish”.
Respondent E also said that citizen journalism is not a threat to journalists, “but to the criminal
justice system” and that “citizen journalists have a duty to behave ethically and to make sure
they understand the law”.
4.3.3 Citizen Journalists as Sources
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It became evident that each professional journalist interviewed, Respondents A, B, C, D, E, F
and G, all thought positively about the evolution of citizen journalism and follow ‘amateur news’
because they can incorporate their ideas into their own work, as they are an excellent source
for stories. When discussing whether citizen journalism had a more positive or negative impact
for Respondent G as a working professional, she stated that she generally sees citizen
journalism as a good thing for the industry, and that it is “used more as a tool by professional
journalists, than a threat or opposition”. She also said: “The positives far outweigh the
negatives. It has opened a new door for professional journalists and I think we know far more
about what is going on in our local areas because of citizen journalism. Before social media,
journalism was a completely different ballgame, but citizen journalism has given us a new and
vast news source which we are utilising on a daily basis”.
Both Respondents E and G openly talked about a specific Twitter account their news
organisation’s follow called Kent 999s. Respondent E said how his news team regularly gets
“stories, images and tip offs by monitoring his account”, however talks about the
disadvantages of the site: “This journalist poses a real competition to us and is very popular
with the social media community”. Opposing that, Respondent G did not speak of Kent 999s
as competition, but said it is a “great example of how citizen journalism can flourish” and is
“well worth checking out as an excellent example of citizen journalism”.
Respondent D said how both professional journalists and citizen journalists can work together
to support one another: “People coming from a citizen journalist background retweet our
stories or people from campaign groups will retweet us”. After analysing his transcript, he
spoke numerous times throughout his interview about how the online nature of the relationship
between professional and citizen journalists is “symbiotic”.
Although Respondent C mentioned how professional journalists may be wary of how citizen
journalists have come by certain information, he still does not dismiss it in any way: “We can’t
be everywhere at once and actually if you’re in a work place, it’s handy to have people around
who have done a bit of work and research themselves, and you can ask them about it or
maybe use it. We’re an information business, so we’re constantly relying on people giving us
information. You can’t sort of bite off the hand that feeds you”.
4.3.4 Community
All respondents, A, B, C, D, E, F and G, all placed citizen journalists within a shared discourse
of people who are reporting things to serve their communities and local areas. Respondent E
said: “Having more people engaging in and reporting in what’s going on in their community
can only be a good thing, and personally I would welcome it if more people took it on
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themselves to gather news for their communities”. Respondent D said it is “providing a
platform for people who make up particular positions on the political spectrum, but haven’t had
a platform before which enables them to get traction, or gets their point of view across”. He
also said how citizen journalism is encouraging “democratic debate”, a concept that
Respondent C pointed out as well: “If you look at the whole industry, I’d suggest that maybe
it’s more democratic. Then you’ve got people themselves providing the information. It’s not
just the same old vested interests of the media”.
4.3.5 Staffing concerns
Concerns surrounding staffing was raised by Respondents A, C, D and F. Respondent C said:
“If you think about television, people want to pay for subscriptions for services like Netflix.
There’s no reason why that couldn’t happen, like a Netflix or an Amazon Prime, in news”.
Respondent A discussed the negative impact of citizen journalism over professional staff:
“Sometimes there’s a tendency in the media by organisations to use that rather than investing
in staff”. Respondent C also emphasised the issues surrounding revenue: “It makes us all
worry in the sense that are journalists going to be getting paid in the future to do our job”.
Respondent A said although citizen journalism could be a threat on staffing levels, “it doesn’t
get the results from a company’s point of view, in terms of sales or readership”.
DISCUSSION
5.1 Journalists are working to Higher Standards
The above results show evidence that citizen journalism has reinforced all of the seven
respondent journalists to work to much greater standards in their profession, and this identical
frame of mind has contributed a significant amount of information to other citizen journalism
studies. After responses were analysed, it was clear that they did not all believe citizen
journalism was necessarily having a negative impact on their professional status in society as
set out in the aims and objectives, but was instead being seen as a “different sort of journalism”
(Respondent D), which was allowing them to motivate themselves to be better journalistically
in the workplace. The concept of working to higher standards was also stated previously in
the results, when most of the respondents agreed that traditional journalistic values were still
as important as before. The researcher’s interpretation of the data collected shows how citizen
journalism has made professional journalists realise their worth in the surrounding
communities they work for as ‘professionals’ and has strengthened their work ethic, whether
they believe citizen journalists pose a challenge to their news outlet or not. This was certainly
an unexpected discourse they all shared and reveals how hard-working professional
journalists are, and how seriously they take their line of work.
19
5.2 Traditional Journalism in Newsrooms
It was surprising to find that only two out of the seven newspaper journalists interviewed
showed notable signs of identifying as traditional gatekeepers, as set out in the literature
review (Havemann, 1966, Shoemaker et al, 2001 and 2008, Breed, 1955, Schudson, 1989).
By discussing how they “scrutinize” information from citizen journalists and check to see that
what they are saying “stacks up”, it showed that some journalists in various organisations will
always be uncertain about information coming from “amateurs” and will always associate
themselves as the traditional controllers and disseminators of news. This does not mean to
say that all professional journalists think alike and believe this is what journalists should do
when dealing with citizen journalism, as the findings above have shown that most, if not all, of
the journalists are accepting amateur reporting and agree that “the public sphere no longer
has walls or gates” argued previously by Nikkanen (2012) in the literature. The evidence has
shown that despite two journalists feeling a need to still maintain some form of control over
certain types of information in a traditional sense, a vast majority of the journalists feel very
passionately about how they can listen to what citizen journalists are saying by using their
ideas as sources for their own stories.
5.3 “We are trained professionals, whereas citizen journalists are not”
Four of the journalists emphasised that being trained professionally was one of the main
distinguishing factors when comparing themselves to citizen journalists. Six out of the seven
respondents also raised issues regarding citizen journalists having no legal knowledge or
awareness. The data gathered about this was not at all surprising, given that newspaper
reporters are more often than not, hired because they have the relevant experience needed
for the work involved and believe having training is of the utmost importance to be a journalist
professionally. The research showed that the attitudes and passion of Respondents A and C
surrounding the importance of having years of training and writing experience supports
Glaser’s statement, that “only a trained journalist can understand the rigors and ethics involved
in reporting the news” (2006). However, most of the respondents did not believe that a lack of
training or legal awareness would hinder the rise of the citizen journalist, no matter how
important training is to themselves on a professional level and that some of them believe
professional journalists may even leave the confines of the newsroom to become recognized
as similar to that of a citizen journalist, because they have the expertise to do so. The findings
suggest that there is no lack of respect towards amateur journalism, but the journalists have,
again, highlighted the importance of why professionals are paid to do what they do as
professional newspaper journalists are expected in society to be reliable and credible people.
5.4 Using Citizen Journalism to Their Advantage
20
The findings have demonstrated how each journalist participant is actively utilising the work of
citizen journalists to their advantage, and are challenging the “we write, you read” theory
according to Deuze (2003), with the majority supporting the idea that “every citizen is a
reporter” (Oh Yeon Ho, 2000). Instead of ignoring their ideas and placing them off to one side,
the journalists have responded positively to the ideas of citizen journalists because they have
given them more access to things that are happening in the community, mostly through social
media, and see citizens as a great resource for story material. The data also conveys how
journalists are encouraging amateur reporting in a way that has never been seen before;
professionals are supporting community-minded people to escape the confines of being
passive consumers. Respondent D does not place himself as a hierarchy of people
(Havemann, 1966) and believes that both groups of journalists, whether professional or
amateur, have a “symbiotic” relationship and can therefore work together. This was particularly
meaningful and the idea parallels the previous theory of people becoming empowered when
they participate in democracy (Robinson and Deshano, 2011). Despite some of the journalists
implying that citizen journalism has not liberated their day to day work if they are too involved
in their own investigations, the researcher found that most had agreed with Respondent G,
and that the “positives outweigh the negatives” when discussing the evolution of citizen
journalism. The research conducted in this study is showing us that citizen journalism is not
being ignored completely by professionals, and is being employed positively in each of their
newsrooms in one way or another for their convenience.
5.5 Concerns for the Future
Although some journalists made it clear that citizen journalism was not a threat to journalists
in general, it was suggested that there was an underlying concern that it could affect some of
them on a personal level if citizen journalism were to put them out of work, or business. This
study uncovered that only a few are concerned about the future for paid journalists, however
most of the respondents did not believe that citizen journalism could ever entirely replace the
work that professionals do because they are, again, reputable, credible and according to
Respondent A, there will always be a place for the traditional journalist as “newspapers have
been around for 100 years”.
5.6 The News Repair Strategy
A highlight of this investigation demonstrates that the news repair theory, as set out in the
aims and objectives, and found in the early stages of research in the literature (Bennet et al.,
1985) is indeed being used as a strategy in newsrooms today to control the flow of citizen
journalism, despite some journalists not being aware that they are doing so.
21
The term ‘news repair’ was not pointed out to any of the participants, to see if this particular
strategy was being used by the journalists in their newsrooms. Respondents A, C and G all
showed signs of incorporating news repair into their day to day journalistic work, after asking
them: “Have you ever felt the need to correct, or have corrected something a citizen journalist
has put online or otherwise due to an error or inaccuracy on their behalf?”. Respondent A said
when people send stuff into her workplace, “you’ll have to sub it in some way before putting it
in the paper, or you’ll have to completely re-write it”. She also said that the work of
inexperienced writers often needs “to be changed in some form or another” as “you could have
someone who’s really willing, has a good news sense and wants to write a story and send it
to you, but then you’d have to sometimes potentially re-write the whole thing because maybe
it hasn’t ticked all the boxes”. Respondent C said that he is correcting amateur journalism
“quite frequently”. He stated that this is “normally because of factual errors or sometimes
outright theft of our work” as citizen journalists often have “no awareness of copyright or the
work that we put in”. Respondent G said she recently corrected a citizen journalist online:
“They had tweeted a number of people to say that a woman had been hit and killed by a train.
We had the facts from the police and paramedics, and knew the woman was still alive and
had been taken to hospital. The tweeter could create a level of fear to other users, maybe
even thinking they may know the woman killed, so I felt the need to put a stop to that and
assure everyone”. Despite this, she rarely corrects a citizen journalist unless they make a
serious allegation: “Otherwise, you could be there all day correcting people. I think
inaccuracies can be harmless for citizen journalists, even if they can be very dangerous for
professional journalists”. Three of the interviewees, including Respondents A and C whose
responses earlier indicated they related to the role of traditional gatekeeper, mentioned ways
in which they had tried to oversee information from outside the newsroom and had felt “an
obligation to construct and mould stories which conform to industry standards” (Bennet et al.,
1985). Although most of the journalists interviewed have talked openly about citizen journalism
being a mostly trustworthy tool to utilise, some, but not all, professionals in newsrooms are
still choosing to act as watchdogs and guardians for society (Singer, 2003).
CONCLUSION
The concluding chapter will analyse the key findings established for the dissertation and the
researcher will discuss how the results have contributed to the research surrounding citizen
journalism.
This study aimed to understand the attitudes of professional newspaper journalists, to see
whether they believed citizen journalism was degrading them as important figures in society,
or whether they were choosing to utilise the work of amateurs. It also aimed to disclose if
22
‘news repair’ was being used as a main strategy in professional newsrooms to control and
manage citizen journalism.
After the findings were collected and interpreted by the researcher, it was established that
professional journalists do not feel threatened by the rise of citizen journalism, despite showing
concerns for their job security in the future, and have claimed to be great supporters of local,
inexperienced journalists who are providing a platform for themselves to have a voice, who
are evidently feeling empowered as a result. The researcher has considered the limitations of
this research project and believes that the general praise towards citizen journalists could be
as a result of professionals not wishing to disclose an old-fashioned mind-set when discussing
the state of their current industry. The researcher believes they may understand that
contemporary journalism is relying heavily on outsiders providing information through social
media as an extra tool, but secretly wishes to reject it. However, in reflection, the research has
indicated strongly that the seven journalists interviewed have neutralised a threat to their
profession and have found a way to be a modern, traditional journalist in an age where citizen
journalism is flourishing.
Although this study shows that professional journalists see some challenges in citizen
journalism, such as having to maintain their traditional roles as watchdogs in the community
regarding legal and written errors, the evidence suggests that the professional journalists
interviewed did not show many examples of feeling entitled over people who write amateur
news, and have acknowledged the current growing relationship between two, different genres
of journalism. Even though user generated content and citizen journalism is growing in
popularity, professionals do not believe there will be a decline in traditionally trained
journalists, because there is a constant demand for news that is factually accurate and reliable.
The data conveys that although some professional journalists act more traditionally than
others in terms of gatekeeping and repairing news on the occasion, they are not choosing to
define themselves as authoritative beings of society.
The findings in this investigation have established for the researcher that overall, professional
journalists are not threatened, nor empowered, by citizen journalists, but instead have chosen
to take a neutral role in the professional vs. citizen journalism debate. It has confirmed that
journalists are using ‘news repair’ and acting as real-time ‘editors’, to overlook information
coming from amateur sources. Professional journalists understand their role in society is
important, however, this dissertation has found that they believe citizen journalists can work
alongside them and have their own role within the media industry. Citizen journalists would
not exist without the internet, smartphone, or social media. Further research may be necessary
23
if the future of the news industry and professionals’ willingness to engage with the current
challenge is shaped by the next wave of technological advances.
This dissertation indicates that professionals do not believe citizen journalism is impacting or
overshadowing their status in society, but instead, is shaping traditional news in a way which
challenges their own journalistic work, and is therefore having a practical effect on them both
personally, and professionally in the newsroom.
24
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