The advent of social media has democratized journalism. While previously, the publicized message of journalism was in the hands of those who had the resources to spread their version of the message, now, everyone is a journalist. This means not only that the stories that make news around the world get communicated from countless personal perspectives, but it also means that people’s daily lives get reported on to an audience that can be as small as their friends or as wide as the world. This is the first time in history that there has been the technology for people to document what is going on around them and what they think about it in real time. This will be an invaluable source of documentation showing future generations the world as it is and how it grew and changed due to technology. Rather than on CNN, major news stories now regularly break on Twitter/X. A tweet itself can become news, making everyone who comments on the tweet a journalist reporting it in their own point of view to their own readership. For example, consider Justine Sacco, whose poorly considered and poorly timed tweet became a story in itself.

The democratization of journalism also means that anyone could become a journalist for a nationally relevant event at any time, purely by chance and the choice to start filming. For example, the killing of George Floyd would have been just another coverup if Darnella Frazier, who was only 17 at the time of the incident (Hernandez, 2021), hadn’t seen the need for her to step up and become a journalist and seized the moment. What was previously invisible is now surrounded by cameras, both surveillance and handheld on mobile devices. Because of social media and the growing availability of technology, bad actors who have been getting away with literal murder for decades are being held accountable by ordinary people, and readers now expect diverse perspectives on even the most boilerplate of news. However, with these diverse perspectives comes difficulty in verifying the information and the possibility of spreading misinformation and bias, so it is equally important for citizen journalists to hold people accountable to what is posted and make sure it is accurate and ethical.

References

Hernandez, J. (2021). Darnella Frazier Filmed George Floyd’s Murder. Read Her Anniversary Statement : NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000475344/read-this-powerful-statement-from-darnella-frazier-who-filmed-george-floyds-murd