Citien Journalism

The concept of citizen journalism derives from public citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. Citizen journalism is practiced by professional and non-professional journalists working together. Citizen journalism is a specific form of citizen media as well as user generated content.

New media technology, such as social networking and media-sharing websites, and the increasing prevalence of cellular phones have made citizen journalism more accessible to people all over the world, who can often report breaking news much faster than traditional journalistic avenues. Notable examples of citizen journalism being used to report major world events include the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement. At the same time, the unregulated nature of citizen journalism has drawn criticism from professional journalists for being too subjective, amateurish, and haphazard in quality and coverage.

September 11, 2001 seemed to be the first time I notice citizen journalism. People all over New York were showing what they had seen from their point of view. News stations were streaming these videos on TV and on the web. People were able to show what at that moment they witnessed. All over the web, you could see various web videos of the event. People were in shock over what they witnessed. People were also able to see the hard work our firefighters and rescue personnel put in live as the activity took place.

With the technologies we have today, people are able to simply record information on their phone. We often see videos on the news in poor quality because those videos were from citizen journalists. It takes time for a news team to get to a site. What they have missed is covered by citizens. Due to private ownership of social media technology, it has allowed professional news teams to rely on citizen journalism to report the news.

In the future I believe citizen journalism will evolve even more. Look at the popularity of U-TUBE as a prime example.  Many people are beginning to find that the news is slanted and prejudice depending on who is telling the news and their political beliefs and agenda. Since most people believe they cannot trust the news, new websites will be created for people to enjoy what others have to offer. We will be able to make our own decisions and formulate more valid opinions based on viewing the facts with our own eyes based on first-hand citizen journalism. With each new social media technology finding its way into our hands, we have to ask, "What is next for Citizen Journalism?"

Hit me with Your best shot! :p

"Cyberbullying" is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or cell phones. Throughout this semester, I have discussed the harms technology has on our youth. My main focus has been on cyberbullying.

Recently, the Bert Show on radio station 99.7 had an episode on the right age for a kid to have a cell phone. Some parents called in and said they gave their kids a cell phone at four years old; others said they waited until their kid was a teenager. The average was around the age of twelve years old. I remember I did not receive a cell phone until I was 14 years old. This made me seriously disturbed.

My nephew, who is eight years old, uses his mother’s phone to play games.  He has no need or desire to use the cell phone for calls and/or texting. The real topic on The Bert show was... "What do young kids have to text about?"

This is where cyberbullying comes in to the picture. Kids are able to spread rumors on their cell phones. Articles in the newspapers are indicating that kids are being subjected to being cyber bullied at younger and younger ages. Why are parents opening them up for this abuse? A recent movie was even released called Cyberbully. This issue is becoming so popular that celebrities are even starting a movement to stop the cyberbullying.

Children have killed each other and committed suicide after having been involved in a cyberbullying incident. Cyberbullying may rise to the level of a misdemeanor cyberharassment charge, or if the child is young enough, may result in the charge of juvenile delinquency. Most of the time cyberbullying does not go so far as to be criminal in nature, even though parents often try and pursue criminal charges. When schools try and get involved by disciplining the student for cyberbullying actions that took place off-campus and outside of school hours, they are often sued for exceeding their authority and violating the student's free speech right.

~These facts raise several questions. Should cyberbullying be illegal? Are parents not paying attention to their children? How far can cyberbullying go until we actually see it as a problem?~

Technically, we cannot pass a law about cyberbullying. Why? People say bad things about politics! People dislike movie stars! People will not like other people! It is our first amendment to practice our freedom of speech and courts cannot take it away. People can stop it though. Parents can start by monitoring their children’s internet and cell phone activities more closely.  Educate children on how to use proper use the Internet and cell phone.  Use parent blocking on websites that utilize social interaction medias and chat rooms to when they can watch the conversations that take place.  Educators and coaches can listen to the conversations kids are having at school and during extracurricular activities and call attention to incidents that they feel may be suspect of cyberbullying.  Most of all, provide opportunities for youth to convene together under adult supervision to discuss the harm cyberbullying does to the self-esteem of peers.

Cyberbullying will continue because society can’t catch all the bullies especially when the activities usually happen when others are aren’t watching. However, awareness must continue to be escalated to the extreme so that the innocent can be protected. New forms of cyberbullying will soon emerge and perhaps laws will be passed. My voice is for protecting our innocent children and not allowing technology to stir up more mayhem. Let’s try to use good judgment and open our eyes wide as we become the future parents, educators and coaches of children in a cyber-world of closet bullying.

Thoughts

It is coming to the end of my class and I thought I would share some insight on what I have learned. My basic focus this semester has been my concern over some of the negative aspects of today’s new communication technology. I also have focused on the control that the web world has created.

Every day when we talk in class I always say, "My kids will not live this way." My class mates can see that I have genuine concern for kids in today’s generation. One of my favorite stories to tell is of my nephew Ayden. My nephew is eight years old and is in love with zombies. He also loves to play XBOX online. I often sneak into his room and see him sitting in his boxer shorts with his head set placed tightly over his ears yelling at the television monitor. He strategizes with other kids and they kill those zombies! 

This sounds ridiculously cute, but it worries me. I often hear him telling other players to stop cussing. After sometimes hours of playing, he turns into a zombie himself! His eyes turn red from constantly staring at the television and his skin is pale with lack of sunlight. What is my sister thinking!

During my childhood, my sister’s and I were constantly running outside and getting into trouble. We would climb trees and scratch our knees. We would explore muddy creek beds and bring home “critters”, dead and alive. I would come in filthy from the day outside and exhausted from the activities. This of course comes with a few hospital visits due to nails going through feet, arms being broken, and cuts and scrapes to be proud of. But I lived life in the real world.

This virtual world that has evolved is not healthy.  We are not meant to live our lives through a television or computer screen. We are meant to go out into the world and actually play tennis, river raft, build forts, and explore and experience life.

These games offer some opportunity for activity while playing them, especially the WII and XBOX Connect where you have a motion detector and are prompted to move accordingly. The games do not allow kids to experience real life though and so their perception of the world is through fantasy and illusions of what someone else has created. Where are the treasured memories of playing outside and running around? My nephews will be sitting around a television watching a fantasy land created for them. I created my own fantasies. I was a mermaid in the pool; Barbie in my convertible; a monkey when I climbed a tree and hung from the tree limbs. My brain allowed me to create my own fun and God added the natural vitamin D from the sun to complete this healthy lifestyle.

Video games, electronic toys and virtual reality have become today’s playground for our generation. Kids do not create their own games with their own imagination. Their imagination is focused on a world that is trapped inside in computer box. My lectures from class show that I am not supportive of parents throwing their kids into video games. My values somehow have remained a little “old-fashion” consisting of taking your kids somewhere they can experience what the world has to offer. As I drove by the local daycare today, I couldn’t help but to reflect on the empty playground.  It was a beautiful sunny day with Spring blooming everywhere.  Why weren’t the children in the play yard watching a bug, hanging from the jungle gym, or hiding in the mock forts?  They were probably inside playing video games or learning from a computer screen…..