Social Media in Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is that, that is conducted by people who are not professional journalists
but who disseminate information using websites, blogs, and social media. Citizen journalism
has expanded its worldwide influence despite continuing concerns over whether citizen
journalists are as reliable as trained professionals. Citizens in disaster zones have provided
instant text and visual reporting from the scene. People in countries affected by political
upheaval and often in countries where print and broadcast media are controlled by the
government, have used a variety of technological tools to share information about hot spots.
Swirling in the background of these developments was a debate over whether the term
citizen journalism was itself accurate.

Blog is an area with a separate identity. In India, the news value of blogs is very limited.
Here, a majority of blogs are expressions of personal opinion by the blogger or commentary
on a certain issue, which can be highly subjective and biased. The idea behind citizen
journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern
technology and the global distribution of the internet to create, augment or fact-check media
on their own or in collaboration with others. Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative
media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street
journalism

It may be inside a protest rally, or in front of a deadly shooting. Smart phones, video and
social media are empowering citizens to tell their stories like never before. The
unprecedented live feed was just the latest in a series of events highlighting the power of
citizen journalists to bring to light events and viewpoints that would otherwise not be part of
mainstream media. “The fact that the public or citizens are able to gather information and
distribute it to the public provides an opportunity for richer storytelling."

“Media can’t be everywhere, but there is something with a citizen telling their own story
from their own perspective which can be very valuable." Citizens can enhance journalism’s
traditional role of holding powerful institutions like the police or the government accountable.
Some citizen journalists have gained so much popularity for their reporting and commentary
that they can reach a much wider audience than traditional news outlets.

Citizen journalism refers to all forms of public reporting carried out online. This includes
everything from blogs covering a local Little League tournament to the online posts of
citizens in countries where the national media is government controlled. When an event is
too small for larger media to take notice or the media cannot report the facts without
censorship, citizen journalism may be the only source of information on what is actually
occurring behind the media blackout.

Some Important Social Networking Sites

According to Alexa ranking (a popular online website ranking site) the top three social
networking sites are listed below:
Facebook: Facebook founded in 2004, initially started as a service for college students but
soon opened for everyone. As of June 2019, worldwide it had 2.4 billion monthly users
(Facebook Newsroom, 2019).
Twitter: Twitter was launched in July 2006. It has become synonymous with social
movements in many countries. Public figures seem to prefer this medium as it helps them in
keeping in touch with their audience directly. In 2018, globally there were 321 million monthly
users in Twitter (Washington Post, 2019).

https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKLPkODHo64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9APO9_yNbcg

Mobile Journalism

Mobile journalism has transformed the way we consume information. With instant updates
and live feeds, this digital form of storytelling has caught the world by storm. While portable
electronic devices have made this art form possible, the work done by newsrooms, cell
phone carriers, and social media platforms alike have supported its continued growth.

How mobile journalism differs from traditional reporting.

Social media’s methods of instantaneous communication have brought new expectations to
the field of journalism. News today must be live if it is to really evoke the curiosity of
consumers. With this, journalists are now expected to be jacks-of-all-trades, capable of
writing, shooting, and managing social media accounts.

Competition.
As the fastest channel for breaking news, mobile journalism has a real advantage over
traditional media outlets. This new form of storytelling caters directly to people’s desire to
receive real-time information. This can pose a threat to traditional journalists who typically
take more time to fully develop a story before releasing it to the public. If these journalists
don’t publish a story before it hits social media, they’ve lost any potential angle they would
have been able to use.

The surge of live media.

Through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, people can easily stay
up-to-date with breaking events by means of live media coverage. These platforms offer
features like stories, streaming, and live chats.

Globalisation.
Mobile journalism is one of globalisation’s biggest contributors. It’s use of mass media plays
a crucial role in informing the public of events happening outside their immediate
surroundings. This interconnectivity provides a link between countries and regions, allowing
for easy exchange of ideas and cultures. Information is now more accessible and worldly
than ever before.

Citizen journalism.
Mobile journalism, in turn, has given rise to citizen journalism: the collection and
dissemination of information by the general public. Anybody with a smartphone or other
internet-connected device may become a citizen journalist. The ability of anybody to be a
citizen journalist, trained or untrained in the field, has brought about questions regarding the
value of an eyewitness account film shot on a mobile phone and posted on the internet,
versus a traditional broadcast on a television network.

https://youtu.be/rBkG8qXdTyM

Photojournalism

World of photography
We rely on photography for a number of ways to communicate visually. For most of us,
photography serves as a way to capture and preserve memories. This is as far as most of us
go as photographers.

Professional photography.
Others use photography for technical purposes, such as illustrating technical information.
Studio and portrait photographers offer polished views reflecting professional standards to
capture our memories. Artists use photography to communicate their vision. Advertisers use
photography to sell things.

Photojournalism.
Photojournalists use photography for another purpose: to tell a story. The approach is similar
to that of journalists. A reporter tells a story using words based on accepted news values. A
photojournalist does the same thing, based on a universal language, pictures. Secondly,
photojournalism differs from other kinds of photography because it is used as a mass
medium. Unlike those of us who take family snaps, photojournalists are expected to
communicate to people they do not know.
Before the 1930s, editors did not consider the power of photography. The words were
important; photos were extra. Today most editors will not accept stories without photos,
illustrations or video. We live in a photo-saturated world. Photojournalism, of course, is a
non-fiction creation. We are supposed to believe photojournalists, like journalists, to be
dealing with facts. This has led to controversy over the extent of manipulation permissible
using software such as Photoshop. If you can make a change, should you? Can you crop
the background? Can you darken a face? Can you remove the light pole? There are no
rules, but we do have a guideline as photojournalists: Don’t lie. The debate over what is
permissible is important because photojournalism has so much power.
Words communicate in a language bound by the culture that created it. They add context,
explain, talk about the past and the future. Pictures, on the other hand, appeal to a universal
visual language which transcends culture. They have no past. They have no future. They
show one instant pulled from the human sea, a “slice of life.” Meaning in words is gained
through methodological reading, in linear fashion. Meaning in pictures is conveyed all at
once. Photos reach beyond reason to directly strike our emotions.

Photo memory.
Many of us who grew up with the media can’t remember a particular article or television
show about an event. But if we think of that event, we may recall a picture instead.
Events in photography.
For example, many people remember World War II through the famous Rosenthal photo of
Iwo Jima. More recently, many people recall the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, based on this
image. Such images become icons of our time, defining events for us with more power than
the words.

Photojournalism jobs.
Photojournalists work for a variety of publications or agencies. Most widespread employer of
photojournalists are newspapers. Other photojournalists work for agencies or syndicates.
Black Star is one well-known agency staffed by photojournalists who prowl the world for
news images. Magazines may have staff photographers though usually they hire free-lance
photojournalists.
Many photographers find free-lancing the most exciting and independent way to produce
images. Nevertheless, becoming established is tough. Most began as newspaper
photographers probably working in both print and online. Unlike most studio photographers,
photojournalists are expected to be more versatile. They should know technical, portrait,
studio and street photography.
Moreover, they need to know video photography, as the web becomes a dominant place to
display their work. The top of the heap is the free-lancer who does jobs for great photo
publications, such as National Geographic, or great agencies such as Magnum Photo. Yet
lots of photojournalists free-lance part time.

The free-lance game.

Even you can be a free-lance photographer: professionals can’t be everywhere, and most
news operations will pay for professional-quality photos of a major news event.
Take your DSLR with you everywhere. Consult the Photographers’ Market for places to sell
your work. You may wish to specialize in areas such as sports or nature.

Stock agencies.
Some photojournalists shoot mostly for stock. Stock agencies offer fairly generic images
used mostly by magazines. Editors turn to stock to save money over hiring a free-lancer.

Careers.
So what is a photojournalism career like? It is perhaps the most exciting of all journalism
jobs. Reporters can get their stories on the phone, or by email. Photographers have to be
there. Photojournalists have access to top sports teams, big celebrities and places an
average person may never get to see or experience. Photojournalists may literally see the
world. Despite this, it’s not easy to break into the field.
Photojournalism is in fact not a growing field, despite the proliferation of visual images in the
media. More media are cutting photo staff, often relying on ‘crowdsourced’ photos from
readers. Digital cameras make it easier for anyone to take a technically proficient photo, and
people can just upload to the web without needing to process film. Though can amateurs do
what professionals do? Often not. Most photojournalists have a university degree, usually in
journalism. They have at least one or two good internships. They have a strong file of clips
from photos they took for student publications or programs. It’s a career that demands
sacrifice and passion.
Photo-feature

What is Feature Photography?

Feature photography is one of three major categories of work captured by working news
photographers. The other two major categories are of course news and sport. There are
almost as many definitions of a feature photograph as there are photographers involved in
the genre. However, a feature photograph might be described as a news image that
supplements the headline stories - one that has no compelling reason to run but which
provides further in-depth cover for news or recent-news stories.

When an important person or significant event has recently been in the headline news, an
editor may decide to run a feature article based upon the background to the original story. A
feature photographer might therefore seek to show a particular person at home in their
family environment, perhaps talking about their lives and how events led to their appearance
in the news headlines.
The stories told in this way may not be of particular importance individually, but cumulatively
they portray our culture. They may also add a positive side to stories that balances
predominantly negative news

Feature story in Journalism refers to any human interest stories / soft news. Features
discuss various topics, from travelogue, how-to-recipes, services, gadgets, wildlife
expeditions, etc. It need not necessarily focus on any current/latest issues and portrays the
writer’s point of view/ viewpoint.
Photo Features consists of a series or collection of photos which are interwoven to convey a
story without any need for captions to convey through words.

Photo Features consists of a series or collection of photos which are interwoven to convey a
story without any need for captions to convey through words. Photo features appear in
newspapers, magazines and web contents. These photos don't need any words to explain
since they speak for themselves. Photo features got its shape during the WW2 when
Photojournalists carried their cameras and other gears and gadgets to the war scenes to
capture the flights of the commoners, destruction, loss of lives, struggle of soldiers, etc.

Do’s and Don'ts

A photographer is not allowed to manipulate or modify a picture as he/she can only resize,
crop, can brighten a picture or can darken it. A photographer is not allowed to apply special
effect filters; any kind of sharpening must appear natural. At present we have all kinds of
photo editing software where we can change anything in a photograph. A photo editor can
give any look or mode to a photograph as he would like and it has happened in the past,
happening in the present which is a great threat to photojournalists of the world.
One of the major problems in photojournalism is the fact that the public is losing faith in this
profession. The viewers no longer believe everything they see. All images are called into
question because the computer has proved that images are malleable, changeable, and
fluid. In movies, advertisements, TV shows, magazines, we are constantly exposed to
images created or changed by computers.
How to take pictures for photo feature
We should ask for permission and introduce ourselves before taking a photo of any
personality. Never take a photograph of a child without the permission of parents.
Be sensitive when taking a photograph. Never take the photograph that would hurt anyone
as it is a matter of ethics. Watch for detail that would diminish the effectiveness of your
photos. Do not pose the subject in front of a bush so it looks as though leaves are growing
out of his head. Take candid photos, not posed ones as much as possible. Candid photos
are very interesting. Watch the lighting. Do not pose the subject with a strong light source
behind them. The light whether sunlight or artificial light will wash out the subject.
Whenever we submit a photo with a manuscript, we must provide a caption for the photo.

A photo story, or photo essay, is a means of visual storytelling. Photojournalists use photo
stories to narrate a series of images so that they give better insight into an event or topic.
These essays range from photos of an event that describe what happened, to long term or
long-form stories following things like wars and elections. Photo story, or photo essay, means
presenting a story or essay primarily through images. Of course, many photo stories have
written elements that help narrate the story. And, individual images may even have captions
that give more in-depth information or context to that photo.

Photo Feature examples

https://scroll.in/topic/2015/photo-feature
https://www.indiatoday.in/photo-feature
Feature Writing/Techniques

What is a Feature Article?

It is a soft news story written like a piece of short fiction. Hard news appeals to the physical
aspects of intellect. Feature stories appeal to the emotions. They combine factual reporting
but with the creative freedom of short story writing. It takes an in depth look at events
currently taking place.

Why Write Feature Articles?

To add a human element to the news. It is not meant to deliver news, yet it contains the
elements of it; to add color and feeling to a major story that has already been reported. They
are emotional in nature. Emphasising on facts that can provoke human interest – to be able
to touch the heart of others is key. Put people in the story, make the readers think and care.

Making a feature story from news

Use the facts and your imagination and the feeling that you want out of the readers;
adjectives, figures of speech, dialogue, stories, and/or idioms; the appropriate point of view
to emphasize your point/emotions.

Kinds of Feature Story

1. Human Interest Feature - a story involving people, their troubles, failures and successes.
Such stories may be relatable to certain readers.
2. Personality Sketch - a semi-biography of a newsworthy person.
3. Historical Feature - narrates the evolution of something (place, culture,etc.).
4. Analytical Feature – dissects the problems and suggests or describes a solution.
5. Seasonal Feature – uses an old theme with some fresh insights or information.
6. Travelogue - describes a place and narrates the experience of travelling there.
7. News Feature - mentions facts from a recent event but highlights the deeper meaning of
the incident. Adds variety and contrast from the news. Has a news peg (an aspect or angle
of a story that makes it newsworthy).
8. Informative feature – what would readers want/need to know? Why would they want/need
to know about it?
9. Science/Sports feature - story related to science/sports.

Ideas for Feature writing

Here are some interesting sources:
Experience
Observation
Reading materials
Special events
Advertisements
Travel
Interview
Speeches and commentaries
Movies
Casual conversation
Imagination

Points to remember while writing a feature

Creative - imagine.
Subjective – inject your own thoughts and emotions.
Be } Informative - give useful details.
Entertaining – not boring!
Timeless – let your story linger in the hearts of your readers.

Feature Writing Techniques:

While writing a feature one should try to write a striking introduction which may arouse the
reader’s curiosity and interest. To end a feature is as important as how to begin it.
Sometimes the technique of short story writing may be successfully employed to write a
feature. Figurative language helps recreate scenes or sensations. It is how a writer tells the
story.

Metaphor - An implied comparison between two unlike things. It is a word or phrase applied to an object or
action to which it is not literally applicable.
Metaphors are used in poetry, literature & anytime someone wants to add some color to their language.
1) Love is a battlefield.
2) You are a firework.
3) The test was murder.
Simile - A stated comparison between two unlike things. A simile is a figure of speech that compares two
different things in an interesting way.
This comparison is usually used to make the description more emphatic or vivid.
1) She is like a rose.
2) As black as coal.
3) As busy as a bee.
4) As brave as a lion.
Personification - Giving life-like characteristics to something lifeless. It can also be said as representation of
an abstract quality in human form.
Hyperbole - Emphasizing something by deliberately overstating or understating it. Good feature stories contain
anecdotes, description, attributive verbs and direct.

Gathering data
Journalists use three tools to gather information for stories: observation, interview and
background research. After completing these, the writer brings the story to life through
colorful descriptions, meaningful anecdotes and significant quotes. These elements are
obtained when interviewing and observing by jotting down everything encountered – smells,
noises, colors, textures, emotions, details seen, heard and experienced in the surroundings.
They keep an open mind while interviewing subjects and researching sources. The writer
avoids steering the story or imposing personal ideas on the sources. Deciding on the theme
of the story until sufficient information has been gathered to show a direction or point of view
is also avoided.

Length of the article

Newspaper features are often 500 to 2500 words in length. Magazine features usually are
500 to 5,000 words. Features on websites and blogs generally range from 250–2500 words,
but hard drive space is relatively inexpensive so the length could vary dramatically through
the use of non-linear hyperlinking of content. Any medium might use a shorter or longer story
than usual, depending on its perceived value. Attention spans seem to grow ever shorter so
brevity is valued. More than ever, all writing today needs to be clear and concise.

News stories Vs Feature stories

Feature stories are stories about people, places and events. These stories highlight feelings
and moods, rather than basic facts. They are often biographical stories of compelling
personalities, such as public figures and community leaders. They aren’t meant to deliver the
news firsthand. They do contain elements of news, but their main function is to humanize,
add colour, educate, entertain, and illuminate. They often recap major news that was
reported in a previous news cycle.

Features often:
● Profile people who make the news.
● Explain events that move or shape the news.
● Analyze what is happening in the world, nation or community.
● Teach an audience how to do something.
● Suggest better ways to live.
● Examine trends.
● Entertain.
 Differences between news reporting and feature writing
We begin with a discussion of the differences in how journalists approach both the reporting
and writing of features.
● In news, for example, reporters quote sources. In features, they describe characters,
sometimes capturing their interaction through dialogue instead of disembodied
quotes.
● In reporting news, journalists generally gather specific facts and elucidate quotes
from sources. Rarely, however, do they paint a picture of a place, or take the time to
explore the emotions, the motives and the events that led up to the news.
● The words ‘dispassionate’, ‘factual’ and ‘front-loaded’ might best describe the
traditional news story. It is written to convey information quickly to the hurried reader
● Features, on the other hand, are structured and told so that readers engage in and
experience a story — with a beginning, body and ending — even as they absorb new
information. Features are often the stories emailed to friends or linked on social
media handles.
● Nothing provides more pleasure than a “good read”, a story that goes beyond basic
information to transport audiences to another place, to engage an audience in others’
lives, to coax a smile or a tear.

A news story can be hard, chronicling as concisely as possible the who, what, where, when,
why and how of an event. It can be soft, standing back to examine the people, places and
things that shape the world, nation or community.
Hard news events such as the death of a famous public figure or the plans of city council to
raise taxes affect many people, and the primary job of the media is to report them as they
happen.
Soft news, such as the widespread popularity of tattooing among athletes or the resurgence
of interest in perennial gardening, is also reported by the media. Feature stories are often
written on these soft news events.

Distinguishing between a news story and a feature

● There is no firm line between a news story and a feature, particularly in contemporary
media when many news stories are ‘featurized’.
● For instance, the results of an Olympic competition may be hard news: "Canadian
diver Anne Montmigny claimed her second medal in synchronized diving today.”
● A featurized story might begin: "As a girl jumping off a log into the stream running
behind her house, Anne Montmigny never dreamed she would leap into the spotlight
of Olympic diving competition." One approach emphasizes the facts of the event,
while the feature displaces the facts to accommodate the human interest of the story.
Most news broadcasts or publications combine the two to reach a wider audience.

Today’s media uses many factors to determine what events they will report, including
timeliness, proximity, consequence, the perceived interest of the audience, competition,
editorial goals and the influence of advertisers.

All these factors put pressure on the media to give their audiences both news and features.
In a version of featurizing, pressure from advertisers or lobbyists often result in writing that
appears at first blush to be news when it is, in fact, promotion for a product, idea, or policy.
Feature writing can stand alone, or it can be a sidebar to the main story (the main bar). A
sidebar runs next to the main story or elsewhere in the same edition, providing an audience
with additional information on the same topic.

While news articles give the facts, feature articles dig deeper, exploring the why and the how
of an incident. Of the two types of articles, a feature article is often considered the more
creative of the two. Writing feature articles often looks at issues and trends while appealing
to the human interest of a story. Since features appear in newspapers and magazines, they
present more opportunities to freelance writers who know how to write a feature article.

Types of Print Media

Magazines
Magazine journalism uses the traditional journalism tools of interviews, background research
and writing to produce articles for consumer and trade magazines. It differs from newspaper
journalism in at least five ways. Newspapers have a very broad audience with widely varying
ages and interests confined to one metropolitan area. Magazines have a national audience
who have a very specialized interest in one particular topic. They are published monthly
instead of daily. Therefore readers expect articles that are longer with much more in-depth
analysis of issues and trends.

Magazines are published at regular intervals, usually weekly or monthly, containing articles,
stories, photographs, advertisement, and other features, with a page size that is usually
smaller than that of a newspaper but larger than that of a book. Magazines today are an
important source of information. It performs the function of entertainment very well and
builds the opinion of the reader simultaneously.

Types of magazines:
1.Magazines of general interest 2. News magazines 3. Technical magazines
4. House magazines 5. Literary magazines 6. Religious magazines
7. Film magazines 8. Sports magazines 9. Children magazines

Newspapers
Newspapers are typically published daily or weekly. General-interest newspapers typically
publish news articles and feature articles on national and international news as well as local
news. The news includes political events and personalities, business and finance, crime,
weather, and natural disasters; health and medicine, science, and computers and
technology; sports; and entertainment, society, food and cooking, clothing and home fashion,
and the arts.
Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing editorials written by an
editor (or by the paper's editorial board) and expressing an opinion on a public issue, opinion
articles called "op-eds" written by guest writers (which are typically in the same section as
the editorial), and columns that express the personal opinions of columnists, usually offering
analysis and synthesis that attempts to translate the raw data of the news into information
telling the reader "what it all means" and persuading them to concur. Papers also include
articles that have no byline; these articles are written by staff writers. Newspapers have
classified ad sections where people and businesses can buy small advertisements to sell
goods or services. A newspaper typically generates 70–80% of its revenue from advertising,
and the remainder from sales and subscriptions.

Dailies
A daily newspaper is printed every day, sometimes with the exception of Sundays and
occasionally Saturdays (and some major holidays). Saturday and, where they exist, Sunday
editions of daily newspapers tend to be larger, include more specialized sections (e.g., on
arts, films, entertainment) and advertising inserts, and cost more. Most daily newspapers are
sold in the morning. Afternoon or evening papers, once common but now scarce, are aimed
more at commuters and office workers. The full broadsheet typically is folded vertically in
half so that it forms four pages (the front page front and back and the back page front and
back). The four pages are called a spread. Inside broadsheets are nested accordingly.

Tabloids
A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than a broadsheet. There is no
standard size for this newspaper format. The term tabloid journalism refers to an emphasis
on such topics as sensational crime stories, astrology, celebrity gossip and television, and is
not a reference to newspapers printed in this format. Some small-format papers with a high
standard of journalism refer to themselves as compact newspapers. Larger newspapers are
called broadsheets, even if the newspaper is now printed on smaller pages.

Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism uses sensationalism and exaggeration to attract readers. It is usually not
well-researched and often only tells one side of the story. It will sometimes have made-up
interviews or imaginary drawings. It isn't always false, though sometimes it is. It does tend to
be overly dramatic and play on the emotions or fears of readers. Yellow journalism today
isn't all that different from yellow journalism in the past, though it does seem to be even more
prevalent now. While journalism is supposed to focus on factual information presented
objectively, yellow journalism is anything but that. The war for clicks and views seems to
have created an epidemic of sensationalized headlines that are anything but objective and
often not even true. Whenever you see sensationalized headlines that scandalize or
exaggerate what the content is about, you're seeing an example of yellow journalism. Yellow
journalism attracts attention but typically doesn't have much substance. Often, the headlines
don't even reflect the content of the stories they're introducing.