Citizen Journalism

The idea of citizen journalism, which is also known as "public, or "street" journalism, is based upon us, as public citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and giving out news and different kinds of information. 

We should never confuse citizen journalism with community journalism or civic journalism because those are both practiced by PROFESSIONAL journalist, which we are not. 

We are making citizen journalism much easier with social networking. You can put something on Twitter or Facebook, like a Yahoo link or something from your school newspaper; having a cell phone made journalism more accessible to people worldwide.

Because of this "availability" of technology, a citizen like you or me can often report BREAKING NEWS to Twitter or Facebook much more quickly than traditional media reporters. 

Essentially, everyone has the ability to do what professional reporters do, but without getting paid...but all they're doing is reporting information, and that is easy enough, right? Even this blog for instance, this is reporting about what citizen journalism is. I'm essentially being a reporter for my professor by defining citizen journalism. Where is my paycheck? 

There are people who do get noticed from their citizen journalism. They either have blogs or podcasts, and end up getting found by very important people, and end up making it big by setting up a blog about crafting, or telling funny jokes; like P.S. I Made This, or Jenna Marbles for instance.  

So... how do you find out your news?
I find out most of my news from Twitter anyways...who needs a TV or the news anyway?

my goals

The goals for this class & this blog are to understand how in the heck everyone knows so much about using correct grammar! I want to be able to go in, read something, and know exactly what the heck is wrong with it, I want to be able to tell my teachers "this is a comma splice" without any concern in my mind. 

Here is a nifty little poem called "Ode to the Spelling Checker" that kind of describes how we have become so used to relying on spell check both on our laptops & on our phones for goodness sakes! 

Ode to a Spell Checker

I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see. Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore wee rote with checkers
Hour spelling was inn deck line,
Butt now when wee dew have a laps,
Wee are not maid too wine.
And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults in awl this peace,
Of nun eye am a wear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.
That's why eye brake in two averse
Caws Eye dew want too please.
Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye
This soft wear four pea seas.
--Author Unknown 
Hopefully I learn everything I need to learn! 
EJS