The Internet has the kind of unprecedented powers of connectivity that can take media and turn it completely around. Media was once a monologue-like response to the public’s needs and desires; but the Internet has brought the ability of media creation to what was once the audience, giving them a chance to enter the media conversation, and created citizen journalism. Citizen journalism – or, to put it simply, user-generated content – is rapidly growing in popularity, strength, and use.
Citizen journalism is not to be scoffed at or denounced as a threat. Professionals must understand that there is much value in citizen journalism, and that there are some areas, such as turmoil reporting or community blogging, that are best left to civilians to cover. In the near future, the media may reach a nearly level balance of journalistic powers between citizen journalists and professionals. This balance, however, will not come about through contempt; only through some form of tolerance, if not cooperation, can we progress in media development. If nothing else, professionals could use user-generated content as a way to gauge their audience. Brooke Gladstone’s graphic novel The Influencing Machine suggests that the media is no more than a reflection of its audience (Gladstone); if so, professional journalists may want to begin taking more cues from blogs, which are ripe with their audience’s representation. If progress is to be made in journalism, professionals in the media industry must begin to take a more constructive approach to citizen journalism.