Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is a favorite subject of mine. In particular the relationship citizen journalism has with traditional modes of journalism is of interest to me. In her article 'If you had been with us': mainstream press and citizen journalists jockey for authority over the collective memory of Hurricane Katrina", Sue Robinson discusses this contentious relationship with regards to the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Robinson focuses on the way in which citizen journalists were able to critique and interact with professional media coverage, serving to bolster or undermine what was being presented by mainstream media. I am also interested in the effect digitization has on media content. I suspect there is a sense in which most online journalism (aside from that which is a direct copy of another established medium- ie the herald online) is considered somewhat amateur and therefore suspect. Based on personal experience, journalistic authority seems to be more easily undermined when it is presented in digital format. Robinson's article drew my attention to the idea that the opposite could also be true in some instances, and for this reason I've decided to look deeper into the subject for my research essay.

See: Sue Robinson (2009). 'If you had been with us': mainstream press and citizen journalists jockey for
authority over the collective memory of Hurricane Katrina. New Media & Society. Vol. 11(5), pp795-
814.

Collective Behavior

As I previously touched on, the internet and in particular applications of Web 2.0 create greater possibilities for the democratisation of Habermas' public sphere, but there are also debates surrounding the quality of material actually entered into the internet. Chu briefly mentions this in her article 'Collective behavior in YouTube: a case study of 'Bus Uncle' online videos', but Chu's area of interest concerns an emergent new order of collective behavior ushered in by the internet. Rather than adhering to the confines of Habermas' definition of the public sphere, Chu's study of collective behavior embraces cultural practices that may sit outside of rational, informed debate, but within a 'public space'. The article centres on a case study of the mash-up video's created by users of YouTube in response to the viral video 'Bus Uncle'. Chu analyses this collective response as it sits within cultural practice and the changes therein as a result of new technologies. This is of particular interest to me, I have long wondered whether the amateurish or flippant nature of some internet practices makes them less important or worthy of study. Despite the tone of my previous comments on the subject, I think Chu's 'collective behavior' and 'public space' are both under-analysed aspects of digital culture, and for that reason this may be the area I choose to explore in my critical essay.

See: Habermas &
Donna Chu (2009). Collective behavior in YouTube: a case study of 'Bus Uncle' online videos. Asian
Journal of Communication. Vol. 19(3), pp337-53.
Maggie Griffith and Zizi Papacharissi (2010).