Role of citizen journalism in strengthening societies

ABSTRACT

The tremendous boost of new media technologies has given birth to the phenomenon of Citizen Journalism which has become an integral part of the modern-day societies. For people who formerly had no chance of being heard, citizen journalism is a great opportunity of participation for them. Moreover, the common people cannot only comment on stories, they are providing resources and information beyond the scope of the mainstream media. Especially in countries without a free press bloggers, photo and video journalists can give underrepresented and underprivileged segments of society a voice and add to the media diversity. They are making their ways through censorship and enable cross-border dialogue. As in Iran, as in Zimbabwe or in Kenya and even in Pakistan during the last elections, they have made a real difference. This paper presents an overall view of the citizen journalism [U] in the world and its effects on traditional media as well as on society at large. The paper also presents the situation of U in Pakistan. The paper concludes that the best quality news can be produced with the mutual cooperation of traditional journalism as well as citizen journalism