Celebrating citizen journalism last week was Highway Africa, the world’s biggest gathering of African journalists. At the same time, the pioneering website Reporter.co.za bade farewell to its more than 6 000 volunteer contributors after just more than two years in business.
The contrasting events highlight both the romanticism of citizen journalism and the fragile character of the phenomenon.
On the rosy side, Highway Africa exhibited the inspiration of journalist Dan Gillmor, whose book We the Media pointed to the new communications role played by people ”formerly known as the audience”.
In this way, ordinary folk are increasingly contributing to journalism by means of, for example, cellphone images of the London bombings and Saddam’s execution, or the snowfalls in Johannesburg last year.
Whether on personal blogs or via the mainstream media, audiovisual or text, these citizen journalists have undoubtedly enriched the public sphere. For its part, Reporter.co.za signed off saying it had indeed published much content that was not found in the mainstream media.
But for the sceptics of citizen journalism, it is argued that this kind of content lacks the quality control that applies to media companies whose business depends on accuracy, ethics and credibility.
The point is also made that much amateur content is far from relevant to mass audiences. Some adds value only to narrow circles; only a fraction actually amounts to journalism.
As Reporter.co.za‘s farewell message acknowledged: ”It’s true we ended up with far too many pictures of Table Mountain and pets.”
Also up for critical consideration is the extent to which citizen journalism attracts an audience and can operate a viable business model. The closure of Reporter.co.za suggests challenges in this regard.
The site’s owners, Avusa, say that data on how many page views the site has drawn is unavailable. But it’s reasonable to conclude that, in shutting up the shop, the company is not overly worried about losing significant eyeball traffic.
The deeper point is that while people may enthuse about the principle of citizen journalism, whether significant numbers actually want its products is a different matter. If Jabu Soap has an independent voice but his utterances don’t attract listeners, so what?
Avusa says the site is being ”temporarily suspended” as part of a wider redefining of digital strategy for all its titles. The farewell message pledges a return, with greater functionality as well. But presumably, if money was being made, the site would have been kept running right up till the day of a relaunch.
However, if Reporter.co.za has proved unsustainable in its first incarnation, that does not symbolise the end of citizen journalism. Instead, it could be a prelude to a reinvention via closer alignment with established media institutions.
According to Avusa’s Colin Daniels, the publisher of the Times Online, ”at the moment it’s likely that Reporter will be the citizen-journalism arm of the new-look
Times site, which we are hoping to launch early next year”. That’s not a bad prospect:
- From the vantage point of the mainstream, citizen journalism separate from the core business makes little sense, when the same content could be co-opted into the mix of the established titles.
- For citizen contributors, this development can offer expanded audiences, drawn in by the more famous ”parent” news brand. Seeing that most of the content on Reporter.co.za was not news, but comment on the news, there’s a compelling logic here.
- From the consumers’ point of view, the closer-ties scenario means the best of citizen journalism being made more visible through association with the location, and possibly the standards, of a mainstream outlet.
Whether citizen journalism in these conditions can retain independent identity is a key question. But a worse alternative is for it to continue playing in the margins rather than the mainstream — or even to see it close down permanently.
Meanwhile, what emerged from the Highway Africa conference is that the mainstream could learn a lot from the political spirit of citizen journalism. That means employees practising the craft not only as professional journalists but also explicitly as citizens.
Just as plenty of user-generated content in general is far from being journalism in the service of citizens, so too is this the case currently within the mainstream industry.
The most profound significance of the idea of citizen journalism, therefore, is that all content producers — both amateur and professional — should recognise themselves as both citizens and journalists.
That also means journalism that better acknowledges the people seen as outside of citizenship because of their age or immigrant status.
We need citizen-oriented journalism from such non-citizens, just as we need it from citizens. That way, consumers of content can better reflect on what it means to promote the corresponding rights and responsibilities on a universal basis.
In partnership, amateur volunteers and paid professionals, practising journalism as citizens, can do a lot to build citizenship across the board.