The future and consequences of 'citizen' journalism

With a background as a journalist, media worker and professional PR person, author - journalist Nguyen Ba Ngoc soon realized this change, from which he wrote Citizen Journalism.  

PHOTO: TUAN DUY

According to Mr. Ngoc, citizen journalism can be simply understood as citizens doing journalism, when they report news using the tools and equipment they have on platforms or social networks, without being professional journalists.

He said that although the concept has exploded recently, it has been around for a long time. He cited the case of 1963, when US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper while on a fundraising trip, the person who recorded this special moment was not a "paparazzi" but a civilian named Abraham Zapruder. Initially, Zapruder only wanted to set up the camera to record the president passing by his store, but in the end this accidentally became a "historic milestone".

Not only stopping at reporting events, through platforms, citizen journalism also provides comments, analysis and shares personal views on issues related to life, politics , economics... Thanks to that, the public has the opportunity to access many different sources of information, helping to expand awareness and understanding of events at home and abroad.

From that reality, citizen journalism is an indispensable part of the modern media ecosystem, where not only professional journalists can report news but anyone can participate in this process.

Consequences of "citizen journalism"

However, this change not only brings opportunities but also poses great challenges for mainstream journalism.

Specifically, as citizen journalism and social media platforms dominate the public’s time and attention, news organizations must find ways to adapt to maintain their position and innovate their business models to compete with digital platforms.

Meanwhile, the risk of information authenticity is always present. Without verification processes like professional journalism, information from citizen journalism and social media is easily distorted or incorrect, leading to negative consequences for the community.

In addition, the risk of privacy infringement, uncontrolled dissemination of sensitive information... is always present.

To deal with this problem, technology platforms have now had to deploy content censorship measures, using artificial intelligence (AI) and human resources to detect and prevent fake news or harmful information.

PHOTO: TUAN DUY

Regarding professional journalists, Mr. Ngoc said that regular interaction, comparison and collaboration with citizen journalism is increasingly important and is an indispensable factor to ensure quick updates of current and timely information. In addition, advice on accessing new technologies such as AI is also sent, contributing to improving work productivity and gradually changing the "backward scenario" as the world develops and information sources continuously flow in.