Citizen Journalist, that can be taken in a number of ways and can be handled in probably just as many ways as well. Citizen journalism is a relatively new term that came about through the advent of the internet which has created many unique niches for people to write and to get what they want said out there. It has also gives the traditional journalism a real run for the money due to the fact that you didn't have to have years of journalistic education to become a published article writer regardless of whether it was news worthy or even factual.

The internet even made the publishing houses take notice since the person writing doesn't require an agent and the writing completely bypasses the editors that the publishing houses have to maintain the integrity of the publishing house. The internet provided ways of allowing people to voice their opinion in their own way without the need of the "real journalism" that the establishment fosters.

With that said, there are now various communities that have allowed people to grow into better writers through gaining experience rather than having to attend journalistic courses. The internet provides stuff like blogging which allows you to write what you want when you want to, even if you want to showcase any journalistic talent you may have.

Blogging is a really good venue to start out with when trying to perfect what you want to say it and how to say it if you are looking to gain exposure while gaining the confidence to go to places that you wish to go with your writing with a little commentary good and bad that is useful. It allows you to be that sports writer that you always wanted, or that person who prefers that op-ed piece just has to be put out there.

You also have those places like social networks that allow you to share various aspects of what you are into based on what part of yourself you want to put out there. With social networks you can perform the same things as a blog but you don't necessarily have to be restricted to everything being compartmentalized into entries like a blog. You are also capable of finding new pathways for you to navigate whether it is, on a professional level or on a personal level.

With citizen journalism there is also the traditional journalism but in formats that they have had learn to utilize to keep from being swallowed up by the outlets that the internet provided. These types of outlets are more for those who feel that they want the traditional journalism but haven't been able to break into the "in print" versions of the journalism and want the chance to have something in print.

Then you have online communities that act like mainstream journalism but do their operations primarily online rather than in print, that act like a publishing house or newspaper distributor that can and in some cases provides the content submitted to their site to partner and affiliate sites for which they share back and forth. These communities know that in order to help their sites be the best they have to help their users become more capable writers which makes these communities mutually beneficial for both the writer and the site that the content is presented too.

There is one question that a person who is looking to become a citizen journalist should ask and actually needs to ask which is; Where do I fit in when I don't know where to start?

Learn more about this author, Sean Davis.
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