Citizen Journalism
Global Perspectives, Volume 3
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Introduction (Stuart Allan)
- Citizen Reportage in Conflict
- A Hierarchy of Attention
- An Overview of the Volume
- Section One: Definitional Boundaries of Citizen Journalism
- Section Two: War, Conflict, and Crisis
- Section Three: Protest and Resistance
- Section Four: Citizen Information, Evidence and Data
- References
- SECTION ONE Definitional Boundaries of Citizen Journalism
- Emerging Media and Citizen Journalism: Considering How New Technology May Transform News Engagement (John V. Pavlik)
- Defining Citizen Journalism and Reporting
- Technological Confluence and Public Engagement in Journalism
- Mobile Communications
- Social Media
- Immersive Media
- Artificial Intelligence
- Conclusions
- References
- Between Activism, Journalism, and the Public: The Continuing Boundary Work of Citizen Journalism (Bolette B. Blaagaard)
- Journalism and its Boundaries
- Epistemological Situatedness/Situated Objectivity
- Technological Embodiedness
- Decentring Publics
- An Example of Citizen Journalism
- Conclusion
- References
- Interlopers, Interloping: Practitioners and Practices of Boundary-crossing Journalism (Scott A. Eldridge II)
- Interloping, Interlopers: Challenging Hierarchies
- Interloper Media: Unwelcome Strangers in the Field
- Journalistic Legitimacy and Boundaries
- Interloper Media: A renewed typology
- Conclusion: Interloping, interlopers
- References
- The New News Photo: Citizen Journalism and the Changing Visual Newsscape (Tara Marie Mortensen, Brian McDermott and Bob Wertz)
- Study Approach
- Study Outcomes
- Implications and Looking Forward
- References
- Use of Citizen-generated Content in the News and Its Influence on Audience Trust and News Engagement (Jisu Kim and Jisu Huh)
- Audience reactions to citizen-eyewitness images in the news
- Effects of Incorporating Citizen-generated Content into the News on Audience Trust and Engagement
- Relationship between using Citizen-generated Images and Trust in the News Organization
- Relationship between using Citizen-generated Images and News Engagement
- Conclusion
- Note
- References
- Citizen Witnessing and Sports Journalism: Crisis, Cruelty, and Whistleblowing (Simon McEnnis)
- Citizen Witnessing Inside the Sports Event
- Citizen Witnessing Outside the Sports Event
- Conclusion
- Endnotes
- References
- SECTION TWO War, Conflict and Crisis
- Voices Amid Conflict: The Emergence and Impact of Citizen Journalism in Palestine (Ibrahim Horoub)
- Citizen Journalism as an Intentional Act of Storytelling
- Creating a counter-narrative: Challenging mainstream media narratives
- Citizen Journalism and Crisis Coverage: Filling the Gaps Left by Traditional Media
- The Citizen–Professional Conflict: Competing for Credibility
- The Verification Dilemma: Can Citizen Journalism Be Trusted?
- Citizen Journalism and the Palestinian Public Mind
- References
- From Local News to TikTok Postings in Wartime: Eyewitness Visuals in Digital News (Maria Nilsson)
- Eyewitness Visuals in General News
- Eyewitness Visuals and Gatekeeping in the Coverage of a Terror Attack
- Eyewitness Visuals in the Coverage of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
- Conclusion
- References
- Negotiating Journalistic Values and Roles in Response to ‘Anti-normative’ Citizen Images: The Case of ISIS’ ‘Terrorist Spectaculars’ (Jelle Mast)
- Research Design
- Islamic State and the News Media: Between Symbiosis and a Tug of War
- Covering the Islamic State
- Containment: Telling, and Showing ‘as if’
- Chief online editor popular daily Het Nieuwsblad
- Editor commercial broadcasting station VTM
- Confrontation: Telling, and Showing ‘as is’
- Constructiveness: Telling, not Showing
- Discussion and Conclusions
- References
- Between Witness and Combatant: The Role of Citizens in Reporting Platformed War (Florian Primig and Anna Litvinenko)
- How Platformization Impacts User Participation in War and Conflicts
- Exploring User Participation in Digital War: Approaches and Perspectives
- Moving on with a critical understanding of user participation in digital war
- Platform Power & Platform Affordances
- User engagement in digital propaganda.
- Conclusion
- References
- Redefining Citizen Journalism in Malaysia in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Mastura Mahamed)
- Citizen Journalism’s Navigation of Post-COVID-19 Challenges
- Socio-Economic Changes Post-COVID-19
- Digital Transformation and Ethical Challenges
- Political Changes and Freedom of Expression
- Media Content Platforms and Changes in the Media Landscape
- Citizen Journalism Post-COVID-19: Challenges and Benefits
- Case Studies
- Conclusion
- References
- Theorizing Citizen Journalism and Authoritarian Regimes (Bruce Mutsvairo and Susana Salgado)
- Citizen Journalism and Authoritarian Settings
- Different Forms of Citizen Journalism in Authoritarian Settings
- Conclusion
- References
- SECTION THREE Protest and Resistance
- ‘More than a News Outlet… a Symbol of Defiance’: Changing the Narrative on Afghanistan with Feminist/LGBTQ+ Agendas (Glenda Cooper)
- Setting Out the Mission
- Telling the Stories
- Journalistic Integrity and Safeguarding
- Funding
- Conclusion
- Note
- References
- Black Death “Gone Viral”: Black Journalists Reflect on Their Experiences with Citizen Journalists and Cellphone Footage (Denetra Walker)
- Black Death on Camera
- Black Death: The Spectacle
- Seeing Us Reflected
- Conclusion
- References
- Citizen Journalism and Social Mobilization: Alternative Media in Post-handover Hong Kong (Chi Kit Chan)
- In Search of Alternative Media
- Citizen Journalism in Post-handover Hong Kong
- Online Enclaves for Alternative Voices
- Change Agent for Social Mobilization
- Abeyant Networks for Liberal Journalism
- Conclusion
- References
- Citizen Journalism on the Frontlines of Environmental Justice (Krishnan Vasudevan)
- Collaborative Sensemaking
- Centering Resident Voices
- Citizen Journalism as Community Building
- Conclusion
- References
- Çapul TV as a ‘Hybrid’ Alternative News Media in Turkey (Yasemin Mina Ulubelen)
- Redefining Alternative Media and Journalism Practices
- Hybrid Alternative Media Practices
- Alternative Media and Journalism Ethics
- Findings
- Editorial and News-making Process
- Sourcing Routines in Çapul TV
- Ethical Issues in Çapul TV
- Conclusion
- Endnote
- References
- Breaking the Silence: Toward Unhoused Citizen Journalism and Social Change (Vojtěch Dvořák)
- Unhoused Citizen Journalism
- The Study
- Conclusions
- References
- SECTION FOUR Citizen Information, Evidence and Data
- Citizen Media Evidence in an Era of Misinformation and Disinformation: A Case Study of Nigeria (Adebayo Okeowo)
- The Legal Framework
- Procedure for admissibility of digital/electronic evidence
- Preparedness of Nigerian Courts for Verification of Citizen Media
- Conclusion
- Endnotes
- References
- AI-Driven Citizen Journalism in Kenya’s Protest Movements (Job Mwaura and Prinola Govenden)
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Discussion
- AI in News Analysis and Reporting for Citizen Journalists
- Social Media in Facilitating Dialogue
- Exposing Police Brutality
- Conclusion
- Endnote
- References
- Non-Citizen Journalism and Counter-Information Practices: Exposing Detention Complexes and Citizenship Hierarchies (Arianna Grasso)
- Defining Non-Citizen Journalism
- Exploring Practices Of Non-Citizen Journalism On X: The Role Of Mentions And Hashtags In Detention Contexts
- The Role of Visuals in Detention Contexts
- Conclusive Thoughts on Non-Citizen Journalism Practices
- Endnotes
- References
- A Literacy Approach to Citizen Journalism in India (Subin Paul)
- Literacy Challenges and Opportunities in Indian Citizen Journalism
- Literacy as a Concept for Studying Citizen Journalism
- Concluding Remarks
- References
- User-Generated Content or User-Generated Data? A Critical Review of Citizen Online Participation (Marcelo Santos and Luján Román)
- Commodification of UGC
- From UGC to UGD
- Two Fields of Research
- References
- Crisis Citizen Journalism Research in the Post-API Age (Wendy Norris)
- The API Past is Prologue
- API Access from 2009 to 2024: A Scoping Review
- Temporal Analysis
- Frequency Analysis
- Social Platforms
- Data Collection Methods
- Research Design
- Analytical Approaches
- Research Disciplines
- The Promise and Peril of the Post-API Age
- A False Start and a Fresh Idea
- Conclusion
- Endnotes
- References
- Notes on Contributors
- Index
List of Figures
Figure 1: The functions of objectivity, technology, and publicity in journalism, activism, and citizen journalism
Figure 2: Typology: interlopers, interloping, and interloper media
Figure 3: Top left: Professional photo; traditional news context. Top right: Citizen photo; traditional news context. Bottom left: citizen photo; social media context; Bottom right: Professional photo; social media context
Figure 4: Top left: Professional photo; traditional news context. Top right: Citizen photo; social media context. Bottom left: professional photo; traditional news context; Bottom right: Professional photo; social media context
Figure 5: Top left: Professional photo; traditional news context. Top right: Citizen photo; traditional news context. Bottom left: professional photo; social media context; Bottom right: citizen photo; social media context
Figure 6: Formula for calculating audience engagement with news tweets
Figure 7: AI-generated images used during the #RejectFinanceBill that were posted on social media platform X in June 2024
Figure 8: Distribution of literacy rate percentage in India according to rural-urban and male-female variables (Source: Census of India, 2011)
Figure 9: Percentage distribution of population (aged 5 years and above) by completed level of education (Source: Census of India, 2011)
Figure 10: Map of possibilities that distinguish UGC and UGD in two dimensions: visibility and aggregation. While the visible content that retains its original meaning is considered UGC, those repurposed via opaque means of processing are considered UGD
Figure 11: Articles published in WoS-indexed journals by thematic categories
Figure 12: Articles published in Scopus-indexed journals by subject area
Figure 13: Keyword search logic
Figure 14: Timeline of crisis citizen journalism publications included in the scoping review in contrast to changes in social media API access (2006–2024)
Figure 15: Units of study, analytical approaches, collection methods, research design, and research disciplines found in crisis citizen journalism publications included in the scoping review (2009–2024)
List of Tables
Table 1: Descriptive data of the extent of using citizen-generated images and audience trust in the news organization
Table 2: Hierarchical regression analysis testing the relationship between citizen-generated images in the news and audience engagement
Introduction
Citizen journalism is no stranger to controversy. Its inflection is suggestive of a progressive democratisation of the news media in the view of some, whilst for others, it represents a spiralling degeneration of reportorial principles and standards. A myriad of other interested perspectives come to the fore in current debates as well, of course, particularly when its relative value is being tested under pressure, such as with the eyewitness coverage of crisis events.
The word ‘crisis,’ derived from the Greek κρίνειν (krinein), meaning to separate, choose, divide, or judge, invites a language of normative boundary-making. Such is also the case with the word ‘journalism,’ where tensions besetting relations of inclusion – who deserves to be called a journalist? – are thrown into sharp relief by those of exclusion (embodied literally or figuratively by the ‘non-professional,’ the ‘amateur,’ the ‘ordinary’ or ‘regular person,’ or ‘volunteer,’ amongst others, situated outside of its definitional purchase). To the extent dualist attitudes presume two rigidly circumscribed identities defined in opposition to one another, the risk of essentialism creeping into ensuing analyses becomes a pressing matter of concern. At the same time, the ‘citizen’ in ‘citizen journalism’ tends to be glossed over in some accounts, not only in relation to questions such as ‘who is able to lay claim to being a citizen?’ but also ‘are journalists themselves not citizens?’ To be alert to this complex interplay of centripetal and centrifugal forces reshaping conceptions of citizen journalism in crisis contexts, it follows, is to recognise how corresponding assumptions about the centrality of the news media to public life are being recast in a climate of political upheaval and economic instability around the globe.
Since the earliest days of journalism as a recognisable profession, it has been possible to discern lines of demarcation separating those perceived to be effectively agreeing to uphold and respect certain (customarily tacit) rules and conventions and those to be denied such affiliation for fear of disruption, their claim to belonging regarded as transgressive of legitimising norms or values. It is a telling feature of our digitalising times today, however, that such contestations continue to be disputed, even though instances of near-instant citizen reportage in a moment of crisis have become so commonplace as to be almost routine. We have become accustomed to expect the first person on the scene, able to relay what they see, hear, or feel (most likely using a smartphone), to be someone other than a professional journalist. For varied reasons and motivations, so-called ‘accidental journalists’ – be they survivors, bystanders, first responders, officials, law enforcement, combatants, activists, or the like – feel compelled to bear witness, sometimes in precarious circumstances.
In striving to better understand this phenomenon, elaborations of ‘citizen witnessing’ have served as a corrective of sorts to certain formulations of ‘citizen journalism’ (Allan, 2013; see also Allan and Peters, 2020). Many citizen witnesses do not self-identify as journalists, their compulsion to document and share what is going on around them being aligned with alternative priorities. In so doing, many demonstrate remarkable energy, enthusiasm and expertise; such is their commitment to forging a communicative connection with friends, family or like-minded social media followers at a distance. Savvy news organisations closely monitor such platforms, vigilantly attuned to the ways in which they can involve and engage members of the public who happen to be in the wrong place at the right time to enrich the quality and emotional depth of their news reportage. This ad hoc improvisation of collaboration is inherently risky, however, demanding careful consideration of thorny practical issues, such as how best to mediate credibility and accuracy while, at the same time, crafting appropriate protocols for verification and authentication. These endeavours are difficult to sustain vis-a-vis everyday logistics, let alone in a fractious climate of swirling rumours, misinformation, conspiracy or disinformation erupting on online news and social media platforms.
Despite such demands and adaptive contingencies, a willingness to rebuild journalism anew by making the most of this potential to forge cooperative relationships between professionals and their citizen counterparts represents a vital opportunity. This third volume of Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives aims to show how and why scholarly research can help to reinvigorate wider dialogue and deliberation about innovations in news reporting at a time of considerable scepticism about future prospects (see also Allan and Thorsen, 2009; Thorsen and Allan, 2014). Einar Thorsen and I commissioned its chapters in the hope that the respective priorities and expertise of its assembled authors would amount to a suitably provocative, even galvanising, intervention in pertinent scholarly and civic activist contexts. Each voice heard on its pages endeavours to advance our understanding of critical issues for citizen journalism’s viability and resilience – such as the influence and impact of digitalisation, convergence, hypermedia, artificial intelligence (AI), disinformation, and hybridity, amongst numerous others – from its respective vantage point. A diverse array of conceptual, methodological and epistemological frameworks undergo thoughtful elucidation on these pages, the definition and applicability of which are carefully tested for their prospective utility by engaging with real-world challenges of urgent concern. It is this commitment to delving beneath the surface of things that gives the volume a welcome critical edge, we trust, helping to ensure it breaks new ground for current and future scholarship.
Before turning to my overview of the individual chapters, I wish to set the scene for the ensuing discussion by considering how discourses of citizen journalism can be appropriated in the promotion of interested agendas, including populist narratives proclaiming a deepening crisis in ‘free speech’ ostensibly compromised by news media complicit in furthering a ‘liberal’ or ‘woke agenda.’ In seeking to lend definitional efforts greater specificity, I will argue, it is necessary to better understand citizen journalism’s reportorial ethos. As will be shown, citizen war and conflict reporting – such as in Ukraine, centred for attention here – provides important insights in this regard, not least by rendering apparent how the authority of presence for witness-bearing is being negotiated under life-threatening circumstances. This Introduction then proceeds to look beyond Western war coverage to illuminate gaps and fissures in its selective purview, where I will contend that severe difficulties in sustaining alternative, independent journalism in developing countries are being exacerbated by recent decisions by the Trump administration to curtail humanitarian and development aid. Finally, in its concluding section, a brief snapshot of each chapter will be offered in turn, highlighting its respective contribution to advancing critical modes of enquiry.
Citizen Reportage in Conflict
In tracing varied inscriptions of citizens’ precipitous documentation of crisis events within a wider digital ecology, remediations of what counts as ‘citizen journalism’ afforded via news and social media platforms have been proving to be ever more contentious. ‘More on-the-ground reporting from regular citizens will change the world,’ Elon Musk, the far-right tech-billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), enthused following a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, a border town where he was taking an ‘unfiltered’ look at migration issues in September, 2023. Determined to ‘eyeball the situation’ and ‘see exactly what’s really going on,’ he promoted X as the ideal place to share such first-person perspectives. ‘I hope people around the world engage in citizen journalism,’ he posted, ‘so we know what’s truly happening and we get real-time, on-the-ground coverage!’ (Anand, 2023; Hart, 2023). Then again, as Geraldo Cadava (2023) pointed out in The New Yorker at the time, ‘though Musk claimed objectivity, he platformed just one side of an exceedingly complex story.’
Looking closely at Musk’s self-aggrandising appropriation of ‘citizen journalism’ discourse on this occasion and since, it is fair to say his assertions align with those of a publicity-driven influencer promoting a deeply politicised agenda. His day-to-day social media engagements reveal a predilection for false or misleading content, while X under his control has become a platform widely regarded as toxic in its ‘free speech’ validation of a right to spread hateful disinformation. In marked contrast to propagandising, credibility as a ‘citizen journalist’ typically implies a normative ambition to report, with such a descriptor more likely to be conferred on those actually striving to record and convey what is transpiring before them openly, honestly and accurately. Whilst their relative expectation in being labelled as such is certain to vary (where it emerges as an affective identification at all), many will nonetheless share a recognisable reportorial ethos, even when mistakes are made, such as when information blurs into misinformation despite well-meaning intentions. Not surprisingly, then, when non-professionals lay claim to the authority of presence for witness-bearing themselves, it is a status that needs to be earned and – crucially – perceived to be worthy of such an aspiration by others. Witnessing, regarded as ‘raw’ or ‘unfiltered’ in its ad hoc immediacy, employing whatever mobile device is at hand, may well be upheld as virtuous in its inexpertness, especially when it is too jarring or unsettling to be contained within habituated framings associated with professionalised impartiality. In other words, this precipitous invocation of subjectivity transgresses the unspoken precept that the journalistic purview is its opposite, namely objective in its impersonal, detached commitment to dispassionate relay of facts cleanly separated from values.
Much of the research literature concerned with citizen journalism and crisis events brings to the fore the epistemic dynamics of war and conflict reporting, particularly the valorisation of being there as an eyewitness to harrowing violence. The ‘people’s witness,’ widely heralded as the lynchpin of such first-person reportage, endeavours to make good the promise of capturing transpiring realities, typically before a lens where ‘seeing is believing’ and ‘the camera never lies’ (Allan and Allbeson, 2024). More critical perspectives within this literature call into question the implied mechanical objectivity of the recording device, however, endeavouring to make clear how warfare is mediated within a wider geometry of discursive and visual power, where this performative adherence inscribes accustomed ways of seeing. Professionalism defined on the basis of preferred, conventionalised codes and protocols thus counterposes alternative ways of seeing, not least those enacted by the non-professional. The challenges for the person striving to bear witness to the horrors of carnage and devastation around them in a warzone will be of a profoundly different order of investment than those looking to social media reportage from afar, of course, but implied is a relationship of reciprocity of sorts, one where imagined co-presence potentially disrupts the (demonising, vilifying) politics of othering. Informing such commitments is likely to be the hope that the ensuing imagery will move distant publics to empathise and to resist the dehumanising logics of enmity in order to care.
Details
- Pages
- XII, 372
- Publication Year
- 2026
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783034363167
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9783034363174
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9783034363150
- DOI
- 10.3726/b23388
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2026 (March)
- Keywords
- Citizen journalism news media international reporting crisis coverage user-generated content participatory journalism online news press and democracy alternative news
- Published
- New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2026. XII, 372 pp., 15 b/w ill., 2 tables.
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