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American Revolution. Mainstream media is driven by corporate interests. However journalists with day jobs are free from those constraints. These citizens need not answer to the board of Directors for Time Warner, or Disney, or Viacom. They need not worry about offending a Pharmaceutical company of which one of those Directors also sits on. These citizens are free to uncover the truth about any story and report it exactly as it is isn't that was journalism was supposed to be? Isn't that what the American people expect? I'm sure that it is a concept that a number of folks in industry and government are starting to become somewhat concerned about. And they should be.

Are citizen journalists capable of instituting change in our country? Let's not forget the story of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. The value and power of Citizen Journalism was recognized by USA Today's Kathy Kiely when she wrote:

"Bloggers were in large part responsible for a change of leadership in the Senate last year. When Majority Leader Lott, a Mississippi Republican, remarked at a birthday party for retiring Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina that the nation might have been better off had Thurmond won his segregationist campaign for president in 1948, the major media largely ignored it.

But bloggers stirred up enough outrage on the Internet that the story eventually landed on newspaper front pages and Lott was forced to resign his post.

Members of the nation's political-media establishment are taking notice."

With all of that said there is the important question of the rules of journalism. That is a valid criticism of many bloggers and forum posters out there. I've certainly seen my fair share of horrible writing on the internet as I'm sure many folks have. Not everyone makes a good journalist. We've seen cut-throat political pieces where not even mild attempts are made to edit out vulgarity and libel.

However these do not constitute citizen journalists.

Let's consider the rules of journalism as described by the Society of Professional Journalists in their Code of Ethics (paraphrased for space):

1. Seek truth and report it (verify accuracy of all information).
2. Minimize Harm (show compassion for those affected by the coverage)
3. Act independently (avoid conflicts of interest).
4. Be Accountable (invite dialog with readers)

So where is the line drawn between an immature blogger with a penchant for curse words and an ethical citizen journalist who checks the facts and reports the truth?

The line is defined in the same light as scientific progress has been defined for decades peer review.

Citizen journalists become true journalists when their peers, colleagues, and sources recognize them and respect them as upstanding journalists who hold true to all values defined by the traditional rules of journalism.

In short - citizen journalists are bound to the ethical restraints...otherwise they lose the respect of sources and colleagues very quickly. But more importantly, citizen journalists are not bound by the traditional corporate and political restraints that mosts journalists must suffer through today.

This is what makes citizen journalists both very unique and very special.

Learn more about this author, Ryan Dube.
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