by Rodney Southern

Created on: April 24, 2008   Last Updated: April 25, 2008

Everywhere you look on-line you will find citizen journalists plying their trade. With little to no control over what they say, it is imposed upon their own good will to be responsible with the words that they decide to put out into cyberspace. What appears to be a disadvantage can just as quickly become an advantage when you look a bit closer.

True, citizen journalists have their fair share of irresponsible writers. When you look at the professional journalists that are out there you will find plenty of the same.

The benefits to being a citizen journalist is really quite simple. When a citizen journalist writes, they are generally writing for themselves. Anyone that writes knows that the best work they ever did was when they were writing about a topic that they had intimate knowledge or opinions on.

Given this fact, citizen journalists can draw closer to the professional journalists simply by sticking to those subjects that light their proverbial fire. No better journalism can be found than a heartfelt piece about something you are passionate about.

Take the arrogance out of the professional journalism trade and take a look around at some of the quality writers that are out there not being paid a dime. They are writing for the love of the medium, and it often shows.

Forget the citizen journalists that are out there putting out sub par, irresponsible work, and concentrate instead on those writers that are most certainly "professionals" without the label or the arrogance. They are there if you want to see them and an ocean of wonderful works are there for the reading.

To often professional journalists "write off" a writer because they are deemed citizen journalists. It would be interesting to know if a high level editor would feel the same if they were to peruse some citizen journalists that I have read. Chances are, the editor would jump at the chance to relieve them of the "citizen" title, and bring them on board.

The next time we blow off someone simply because of credentials, maybe we could actually read what they have to say first. Then maybe, we might judge based on the merits of the work and not the title we wear so proudly.

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