by Aj Brady

Created on: February 29, 2008   Last Updated: April 25, 2008

One of the key elements of new-media, and one of its major attractions, is the ability of interactivity that is involved.

Literally, the user, the consumer, is the one creating what they consume, tailoring it towards their own needs, views and values.

This has caused an explosion in "citizen journalism", where many amateur writers are cropping up all over the place, blogging on various topics which may or may not necessarily be close to their heart.

This has brought about a seeming form of unfettered journalism, where anyone can say anything, and get away with it.

Despite the initial view, this is still far from the case.

The biggest and most interactive new-media form of all is the internet. The internet is a seeming cesspool of unfettered bloggings, writings and journalism.

But, despite initial castings, this is far from reality.

It costs money to run a website. It costs money to pay for an internet connection. The online world is still beholden to the beasts of the offline world: making a profit and getting ahead.

In order to make profits and the like, websites need sponsors, advertisers, just like television channels, newspapers, etc etc., real-world journalism.

Advertisers are less likely to want to rush to sponsor websites that include defamatory, unsubstantiated material which has no basis.

Thus, realizing this, websites must inherently place restraints on citizen journalists, many akin to which bear down on professional journalists.

Certainly, the anonymity and freedom of speech offered by such new-media as the internet is unparalleled, and is much more liberal than journalists work under at the New York Times, etc.

However, to say citizen journalism is completely free of traditional restraints is taking things slightly too far.

Defamatory remarks are still a no-no in the new-media, swearing and the like is also usually not permitted.

Liberal rules and regulations regarding sourcing material and the like is common in the online world, there are some rules regarding it on some citizen journalism forums, though mostly it is pretty unfettered in this regard.

Any website which offers citizen journalism with no restraints generally won't last long. The internet is also still subject to broad-ranging laws and regulations from governments in various companies, and Internet Service Providers with customers openly flouting societal rules could find themselves out of business very quickly.

It'd be nice to believe that we could have a totally unfettered form of citizen journalism, and possibly one day we will have that. But currently, as the online world stands, it does not offer such an avenue.

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