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| Yes | 41% | 169 votes | Total: 414 votes | |
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Yes
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Add to FavoritesAs a little girl in the 1960s I wanted to be Walter Cronkite when I grew up. In the 1970s, I convinced my parents to get me subscriptions to Time and People magazines so I could keep tabs on my future career path. Then, something happened after the Watergate scandal. Reporting had changed. Although I couldn't put my finger on it quite yet I knew that the direction journalism was going was opposite the direction of my personal ethics. I didn't know exactly why at the time but I was convinced that journalistic integrity was giving way to sensationalism and gossip. I still wanted to be Walter Cronkite when I grew up but I also sensed that journalists like Walter Cronkite were a dying breed.
Today it's more noticeable than ever. All media channels are owned by the same few corporations and one really has to search for an independent view of the events of the day. Bill Moyers on PBS Journal and Amy Goodwin of Democracy Now are practically all that's left on television and The Nation and Mother Jones do OK in the magazine department. But, even local newspaper rely too much on pre-owned and prefabricated news feeds like the Associated Press and Reuters and it resembles fast food more than it does actual news. Thomas Jefferson once said: " The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers". And, sadly, I have to agree with him. I've found lie after lie repeated as if mere repetition can make a lie Truth.
Take, for example, the supposed quote from Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Israel should be wiped off the map". The man actually said no such thing. In a speech once he quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini who had once said that the "Zionist regime of Israel cannot withstand the test of time". However, the lie was repeated so often in the media that few question its authenticity. And, in regards to the same Ahmadinejad, he is not a Holocaust denier. He once questioned why it's off limits to research new findings in regards to the Holocaust (he's a university professor when not acting as president of Iran) and once gave a speech in which a famous Holocaust denier attended but the mainstream media somehow connected these unconnected events and created a lie which still continues today.
Thanks to the Internet and Citizen Journalists, the lies perpetuated by the mainstream media cannot hold. Although no single voice has a large enough audience to correct the lie instantly, there are enough voices to get the Truth through eventually. We may not have the backing of a Rupert Murdoch or a G.E. but we have an insatiable desire to put integrity back into journalism.
I will admit, however, that not all Citizen Journalists can be trusted. Among the Citizen Journalists who are fighting for Truth and Integrity there are those we collectively call "disinformation sites". Some call them CIA disinformation sites, some call them Illuminati disinformation sites, some call them corporate or lobbyist disinformation sites but they're all basically the same. They are paid to take the Truth we've uncovered and twist it around to make it irrational and confusing and, in the process, make Citizen Journalists seem less trustworthy. We know who they are. And we often go to those sites purposely to get new leads because there's always a little truth to them even if it's wrapped in a nut case.
Even though Citizen Journalism is a relatively new phenomenon it's been around long enough for readers to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. Yes, all writers have a bias based on their own experiences and view of the world and no matter how hard they try to be impartial it will come out. Their personalities will show. Otherwise, they'd sound like robots and no one would ever read their work. Readers understand this and will be drawn to the Citizen Journalists who best fit in with their own view of the world. It's freedom of information at it's best: Learn what you want to learn in the voice you want to hear.
We may suffer growing pangs for a while as the masses teach themselves to look outside of the corporate media for their information. And, the corporate media will suffer financially until they learn that the masses are just tired of being told what to think. But, it will all work itself out in the end. We will soon find that the true meaning of freedom includes allowing each and every one of us to fill our brains with the information that fits us best. We are individuals and each one of us is unique. We are not just data that can be categorized and computerized and made to fit into a consumer projection model. And, until the professional journalists who work for the mainstream media regain their journalistic integrity and stop being propagandists, Citizen Journalists will continue to take up the slack.
Learn more about this author, Sandi Crain.
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No
What do I owe a free press?
I grew up listening to network news and reading Hunter S. Thomson and P.J. O'Rourke. I learned from them that all journalists have their own rice bowl and their own attitudes that will find a way into their work. This is not the exclusive domain of either our citizen journalists or our giant media outlets.
The question of trustworthiness is my problem to solve. It is the glorious cost of a free and unfettered press. Anyone can say, can write and can believe anything they wish. I have the responsibility to investigate the writer or the statement. As they say in the U.S. Army, freedom isn't free.
Now, that's a lot of homework for our busy lives. But here we are, in this amazing time, with databases that offer the history of everything at our fingertips. If a journalistic statement raises our interest or our eyebrows how much time would it take to investigate the individual or the corporation that presented the statement? Having done our bit of homework, paid our dues for our free press, we might come away with a new idea and a new source. That source, citizen or professional, individual or organization is the prize.
Reading and listening critically allows us to limit our efforts even further. Are there questions presented that communicate more about the journalist expectation or desire? During the immediate Hurricane Ike recovery effort in Houston, we were watching the continuous coverage on TV. The family beach house (shack?) was in the direct path of the monster and we were desperate for any news. Aerial views kept coming on of a long line of people who were waiting for a FEMA station to open. The people in line were orderly, seemed patient and were talking with one another. I watched with a great sense of pride as my fellow Texans responded like citizen soldiers. A reporter eventually arrived at the scene. The first question she asked was "How angry are you at having to wait out here like this? Don't you think this could have been better planned?" In two sentences she tried to turn the citizen soldiers into victims of something more than a wall of water. She was a credentialed professional. The people she interviewed did not provide her with any support on her approach. This source had an obvious bias.
A citizen journalist was the one who a few days later matched an aerial map of the devastation with street addresses. This citizen journalist was our source to learn that our beloved little place no longer existed. The same citizen journalist gave us the information to able to check on our dear neighbors. This source, on this topic, was informative and timely. We were able to verify all of the information without going into the danger zone. As a fan of credentials, this was an extremely valuable lesson.
Looking further, learning more is our responsibility. We, as the consumers of journalism, have options. We get to say what outlets and providers we trust.
Learn more about this author, Susan Moore.
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