by Jude Coyle

Created on: August 22, 2010

I am both a citizen journalist and a professional journalist, and my answer to the question 'are citizen journalists more trustworthy than professional journalists' is no. Why? Because as a professional I am required to uphold a certain standard, whereas as a so called 'citizen journalist', I vent.

I am what is known as in the newspaper business as a stringer. In other words, I am not the employee of a newspaper as much as I am a private contractor. My editor gives me assignments, I fulfill them, and then I bill her at the end of the month for every job individually. At the time of my first interview thirteen years ago, she said, "Be as objective as possible.' In other words, I was not to inject anything I write with any indication of how I felt, only that it happened. 

I normally cover City Council and other types of meetings, as well as some local news and special events. I pride myself that my stories have been successful in bringing full and unbiased coverage to my community. I give the residents of my town enough information that they can decide for themselves what is right or wrong, or what side of an issue they find themselves on. I've been told I do this very well.

As a profession, I don't have a platform to express my opinion. I have to be very careful about how I word something. I can't say 'City Council blundered their way into passing an ordinance that requires all residents to pay increased taxes for the right to own an automobile.' Instead, I'm required to write something like "An ordinance increasing the cost of a vehicle sticker from $5 to $50 was passed with a unanimous vote.' Because my opinion doesn't matter, I can't cheer when at the next meeting residents rush Council Chambers to protest a thousand percent increase either. I can say only that 'several hundred residents attended the meeting to express their dissatisfaction with the increase in the cost of the vehicle sticker. Several carried signs expressing their dissatisfaction as well.' Otherwise I might say something like, 'dummies got to hear the righteous speak out. Let's see who gets voted out of office at the next election.' 

Being a professional goes hand in hand with being a news hound. I can't help it. I watch a lot of news shows, I read a lot, and I have formed a lot of opinions. As a professional, and as someone who only covers municipal politics, I have no where to express my opinions. And it's hard not being able to express my opinion about my work either. Hence, I started a blog. Tell me about how Congress didn't pass an extension of unemployment benefits, and I will use my blog to blast any and every Senator and Congressman to stand in the way. I can't do that in the newspaper, so I will gladly do it on the net, even if no one ever reads my blog.

Learn more about this author, Jude Coyle.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.