Citizen Journalism on the March
Check out the story about citizen journalism in today’s Washington Post. There’s nothing much surprising here– plenty that’s encouraging–although I laughed out loud at this part:
“The term ‘citizen journalist’ has an Orwellian ring to it,” says Andrew Keen, author of “The Cult of the Amateur,” who’s criticized the Web 2.0-Wikipedia world, where everyone can become their own editors.
“People are becoming Big Brother, either with a camcorder or a keyboard, and following the candidates around. It’s ridiculous. You can’t just be a great journalist, the same way you can’t be a great chef or a great soccer player.”
Journalists, he continues, “follow a set of standards, a code of ethics. Objectivity rules. That’s not the case with citizen journalists. Anything goes in that world.”
Hmmmmmm… Big Brother? Does this guy understand that any concept of Big Brother requires that the dictator (singular or collective) have actual political power?
Oh, and the part about objectivity–priceless. To learn something about the concept of objectivity in journalism, start here.
For a consideration of citizen journalism by someone who knows what he’s talking about, click here.
