What would American newspaperman Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, have thought about citizen journalists snooping around in Virginia City, Nevada?
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Citizen Journalists are on the march. Where this army of soccer moms, retirees and Ralph Nader wannabes is going no one knows but I have a hunch they will be scouring the internet, visiting their local library or strolling to the county clerk's office to find out what they think the rest of us need to know.
What Professional Freelance Journalists and Citizen Journalists Should Know
Here are a few thoughts about what Professional Freelance Journalists and respectively, Citizen Journalists need to know.
As an article appearing on the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project (PRRP) website explains to Professional Freelance Journalists:
"Freelance journalists are often badly exploited, and should be confident in demanding coverage or enough (extra) pay to cover the cost of insurance."
As a Citizen Journalist, your chances of being exploited are high but regarding demanding that "extra pay", don't worry about it. Nobody has it in their business plan to pay you a penny. Just ask CNN iReport.
Another tip from the PRRP advises that, "It is essential to carry a press card. Keep it handy. Don’t keep it in your wallet – you’ll be advertising your money every time you take it out."
The press card you'll be carrying as a Citizen Journalist will probably come from your local laundry and that money? As I said before, you won't have any.
About "being too friendly," the PRRP cautions Professional Freelance Journalists: "If there are other journalists about, stick close to them. Never be seen to be too friendly with the security forces. If a security officer offers his or her hand, don’t take it. Apologize and say you don’t mean to be offensive, but you cannot afford to be seen shaking hands."
As a Citizen Journalist, you'll need to look brave so you can't afford to be seen with shaking hands. You'll probably meet other CJ's at Starbucks (are they still in business?) before cruising to an internet café at the mall to contribute to your wiki. The mall security guard's wife will be at your house baby-sitting your kids.
Professional Freelance Journalists, when attacked, are urged to "Report it to your employer."
As a Citizen Journalist, you won't have an employer but maybe you can report the attack to Twitter via your cell phone so everyone can watch a podcast of you being beaten to a bloody pulp.
Journalism in the Public Interest
The website ProPublica describes itself as "Journalism in the Public Interest". You can surf over there to source User Generated Content (UGC) and republish their articles free. No wonder journalists and photojournalists are disappearing. You write the story, shoot it over to ProPublica and CNN USES IT FOR FREE.
Most of the stories on their site that the public seems to be interested in deal with themes centered on the American economy and politics which isn't too surprising given America's penchant for looking at itself.
Articles about the US budget, stimulus spending and lawmakers billing taxpayers for TVs, cameras and Lexus automobiles are available and I suppose that's a good thing if you are an American.
Their new endeavor, known as the ProPublica Reporting Network, a new citizen journalism initiative, asks, "What type of person commits to a week-old venture? Who offers to track the construction of a local road or bridge?" ProPublica goes on to tell Citizen Journalists, "It’s a sizable commitment."
According to the PRRP, "If you are covering a dangerous assignment, you have the right to full insurance (life, health, riot, property)."
As a Citizen Journalist, if that local road construction you're covering turns out to be an assignment fraught with danger, the only thing you'll have the right to is covering your own behind.
Reality
In the world of golf, Tiger Woods or the local golf instructor get paid because they are professionals. Amateur golfers aren't paid because it's not their job, and golf is a game.
Citizen Journalists aren't participating in these new schemes to earn livelihoods and the likes of CNN and BBC knew that when they inserted "no pay" into the rulebook of their exploitive new sport. iReport that!
As Lightstalker John Louis Lassen Perry said, "Citizen Journalism is often “amateur” in the true sense, citizen journalists “love” what they are doing. Nevertheless, they often lack story-telling skill and frequently have a poor grasp of how to handle facts and reference. Professional journalists are paid to take the time to really look into things and are trained to consider how the facts and previous events play into things. Spending months at a time trying to understand an issue is something that most citizen journalists do not have the time or money to do."
To Professional Freelance Journalists: Your peers respect what you encounter as you strive to bring the world the information it needs. Thank you.
To Citizen Journalists: You're going to have write stories that tell me more about the planet out there beyond the bubble of Western World prosperity. I already know the US government spends $100 for a hammer.
Further, it's no secret that Western World big business exploits its citizens.
The question Citizen Journalists should be asking is:
Why Aren't We Being Paid?
The answer to that question is what Citizen Journalists should be digging for.
During Mark Twain's days in Virginia City, his newspaper was known as The Territorial Enterprise and hundreds of the town's residents spent their days prospecting for silver. When they failed to find any, they weren't paid but when they did, all that digging paid off.
That's what the scoop is all about!
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
