Citizen Journalism and Blogs

Tulelake, CA— Requirements, there are NONE.

All it takes to be Citizen Journalism is the willingness’ to do it. Not sit back and talk about doing it. It is an effort that is not always easy to do on a daily basis but it can be done if you make the effort doing it. All you need is an interest to do it and in time you can and will be Citizen Journalism

Start with something you care about and want others to know about it. Write about it using your own words explaining the story you want others to read about. When I first started doing it I did it as a joke about a UFO and made a flyer about it. Then I took an interest in what was happening at city council meeting and the local area where I felt the mainstream media was not coving the events.

I even had a little practice when I was living in Alturas, CA while taking care of my Mom. I had experience putting on events, some successful, some not so successful. We all learn from trial and error. I was invited to San Francisco in 2001 for an event and they set a table and space there for me, during that time. But that was way back in the early 2000’s, when I lived in Redding, CA.

In fact one news site I went to someone suggested back in 2008 if I did not like what was going on there at the news site, to start my own blog and newspaper. That is exactly what I did, I started my own printed news for Tulelake and gave it away, and that is how I first started doing what I have evolved to doing now.

I am still working on that dream trying to get others involved in what I am doing by telling their stories and for me to build them a web site with their news stuff on it. So they can tell their stories and that way I don’t have to come up with all the stories or inspiration writings everyday. People can then go to the link I put up on the main site and read their stuff and that is what I have been trying to do, is give others a chance to do the same thing I do.

That way it is not all about me and my view of the world but their view of the world and what they have to say or write about it letting others know what they want them to know. That way we are in this together and it is not just me. I know how hard it is to get a site up and running and having people come back daily to read the latest but also catch up with what they did not have time to read before. I have written and posted just in the last 11 months 290 posts. That is a lot for one person and I try and do at least one daily but like everyone else I take breaks too.

I have been on the Internet since 1995 when I first discovered what it is all about in South Korea, first with emails, then building my own message boards and web sites. Almost 20 years.

Some days there are lots of hits and other days only a few, it goes up and down daily.

Blogs

"With the rise of digital media, there is a move from the traditional journalist to the blogger or amateur journalist. Blogs can be seen as a new genre of journalism because of their “narrative style of news characterized by personalization” that moves away from traditional journalism’s approach, changing journalism into a more conversational and decentralized type of news. Blogging has become a large part of the transmitting of news and ideas across cites, states, and countries, and bloggers argue that blogs themselves are now breaking stories. Even online news publications have blogs that are written by their affiliated journalists or other respected writers. Blogging allows readers and journalists to be opinionated about the news and talk about it in an open environment."

Citizen journalism

"Digital journalism's lack of a traditional "editor" has given rise to citizen journalism. The early advances that the digital age offered journalism were faster research, easier editing, conveniences, and a faster delivery time for articles. The Internet has broadened the effect that the digital age has on journalism. Because of the popularity of the Internet, most people have access, and can add their forms of journalism to the information network. This allows anyone who wants to share something they deem important that has happened in their community. Individuals who are not professional journalists who present news through their blogs or websites are often referred to as citizen journalists. One does not need a degree to be a citizen journalist. Citizen journalists are able to publish information that may not be reported otherwise, and the public has a greater opportunity to be informed. Some companies use the information that a citizen journalist relays when they themselves can not access certain situations, for example, in countries where freedom of the press is limited. Anyone can record events happening and send it anywhere they wish, or put it on their website. Non-profit and grass roots digital journalism sites may have far fewer resources than their corporate counterparts, yet due to digital media are able to have websites that are technically comparable. Other media outlets can then pick up their story and run with it as they please, thus allowing information to reach wider audiences.

"For citizen journalism to be effective and successful, there needs to be citizen editors, their role being to solicit other people to provide accurate information and to mediate interactivity among users. An example can be found in the start up of the South Korean online daily newspaper,OhMyNews, where the founder recruited several hundred volunteer “citizen reporters” to write news articles which were edited and processed by four professional journalists."

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