Thousands of traditional journalists who lost their jobs in recent years have begun reappearing with online news operations, many of which also use citizen journalists. The two sometimes mix about as well as oil and water.
But it shouldn’t be that way and doesn’t have to be, according to Jason Stverak, who heads the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Franklin is a non-profit that is building an impressive nationwide network of investigative reporters drawn from both traditional and citizen journalism sources.
Their primary focus is on state and local government investigative reporting, an area which has suffered greatly in recent years as newspapers have reduced their reporting staffs, often beginning with the investigative reporters.
Stverak has an interesting oped in the latest edition of the Online Journalism Review in which he makes the case for the importance of citizen journalism and its compatibility with traditional journalism. He contends that wire news services – think AP – face an especially interesting challenge:
“As more non-profit journalism organizations develop, and more online journalists emerge in cities around the nation, the traditional wire services will have stiff competition unless they deal with reality and start picking up the best work these journalists produce.
“Non-profit journalism organizations as well as citizen journalists are producing news that too often is overlooked by traditional media. Not all those who write online stories are journalists – yet – but the ones who are should get the same access and treatment as those few still employed by newspapers, television and radio.
“At the end of the day, a partnership between newspapers and citizen journalism organizations will be beneficial not only for both, but also for Americans who will be better informed. That’s the point. It also is the mission.”
You can the rest of Stverak’s oped here. This is the first of what will be a monthly column from Jason in OJR on these and other issues related to citizen journalism.
