"Our worst enemy may be ourselves. Corporate journalism, which dominates today, is squeezing quality to boost profits in the short term. Perversely, such tactics are likely to undermine us." -Gillmor, Dan (2004)
Gillmor definitely foresaw the future when he wrote this, because today corporate journalism is put in check by citizen journalism.
According to Layla Revis (November, 2011), citizen journalism is changing media and democracy. She said that, "these citizen journalists fight to create a well-informed public in which media also serves as moral education. This philosophy radically departs from mainstream journalism, an overarching goal of which is to sell its product. Citizen journalism, on the other hand, allows marginalized people to reclaim their voices, to tell their otherwise silenced stories firsthand." Campaigns such as Arab Spring, Occupy Wallstreet, SOPA, and the revolution in Egypt have benefited from the safety of anonymity and freedom of speech that characterize social media. Social media enables citizen journalism to speak up and out when the major news outlets are blocked by the government e.g. China and Iran and even in instances when time and resources get in the way of the traditional and corporate journalism. These new journalists now act as a conscience to the corporate journalism.
read the article by Revis »
Agreed. It's compelling to consider the breadth of citizen journalism. I only hope that the corporate megaminds don't begin to swoop in and sway independent minds into the corporate, i.e. "come work for us."
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