Citizen Journalism is “the act of non-professionals, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information” (Bowman, Willis (2003). Combining this with the mass users of social media in today’s society, is citizen journalism generally considered good, bad, or both?
With today’s ability to easily access the media, citizen journalism has the potential to be used in both good and bad ways. It can easily lead to the quick spread of false information across popular platforms; Facebook, twitter and Instagram. This is due to the fact that there is no current verification system put in place to verify the information being posted. However, this also if the information if infact true it can be a positive attribute as well, shedding light on current situations and allowing the community to keep up to date with events on a global scale; for example Covid-19. The spread of the coronavirus has been voiced and continous updates from all across the globe.
North Korea is a country that media and communications outlets are closely censored by the countries government. It is infact known for having one of the most authoritative regimes in the world (abc.com, 2020). The impact of citizen journalism can also lead to life threatening consequences for these individuals. “Each undercover North Korean citizen journalist must cross over rugged land or gushing rivers in the dark of night to meet with Ishimaru at a pre-arranged point along the 1400km border between China and DPRK to deliver secretly recorded footage.” Anne Mortensen explains, along with stating that North Korea ranks 178 out of 179 out of. all countries regarding press freedom.
North Korea where the government itself has control over public opinion, and imposed penalties on journalists in order to restrict the information being spread. Therefore citizen journalism could be seen as a threat to North Korea, as it can inspire social change and disrupt the political and economic landscapes.
With this being said, North Korea has exclaimed that they have intact beat coronavirus and have not had any cases in the country. The tight guarded borders and lack of foreign tourists do suggest that the risk is low, however experts say it is almost impossible for the country to avoid the virus altogether given it shares a 1,420 kilometres boarder with China. This is important due to if information and citizen journalism was accessible in North Korea information whether this is true or false could be determined. But due to the governments extreme control over the media and what is allowed in and out of the country it is near impossible to find out. The government could be possibly obscuring the truth and spreading misinformation to put an image out to other countries.
In conclusion, citizen journalism when creating a space for spreading reliable information can be advantage. When it is used negativilty it has the power to fill the internet and social media platforms with information that is false. Citizen journalism to be effective needs to be approached in a way where it is not believed everything that is seen/read, but instead use it as an idea and to create discussion on topics that are important to our society.
Bibliography
Lecture slides – Week 3
Abc.net.au. 2020. Kim Jong-Un Declared Victory Over The Coronavirus. Then An Infected Defector Came Home. <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-13/north-koreas-coronavirus-situation-may-remain-a-mystery/12544584> [Accessed 3 September 2020].
The Independent. 2014. Voices In Danger: North Korea Is No Place For Citizen Journalists, But. <https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/voices-in-danger-north-korea-is-no-place-for-citizen-journalists-but-this-hasnt-stopped-ishimaru-9825462.html> [Accessed 26 August 2020].
The Nation. 2010. North Korea’s Citizen Journalism. <https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/north-koreas-citizen-journalism/> [Accessed 21 August 2020].
Victoria Bobbermien 