Citizen journalism

I am trying to figure out, what is citizen-journalism. It can be a hobby or a profession. In a hobby it is enough to be read or to be heard. As a profession we need to get fame or money. (Fame or recognition is “money in many areas.)

So for everyone is important to understand why they are writing. (I am doing a PhD on this.) Also it would be good if your audience knows where you come from. In citizen-journalism a very big issue seems to be creditability. Does the reporter have a hidden agenda? (As if that would not be the case in traditional journalism?)

The point I am trying to get is, that one way of thinking of civic, citizen or public journalism is think of it as “Hide Park”. Your box is digital media. In Hide Park the speakers can see their audiences. We need to see ours in citizen journalism. The story might be from the backyard, but who is interested in listening to us?

Check http://www.ireporter.org