Conversations on ‘making the news’: A citizen journalism-oriented tool for empowering citizen advocates of journalism

Abstract

This article explores an avenue for fostering a model of citizen journalism that is empowered by community dialogue about ‘making the news,’ interactive engagement with local news actors, and advocacy for journalism. The research effort features two key focal points. First—from a normative standpoint—it emphasizes a broader conceptualization of citizen journalism that includes citizen contributions to discussions about, and advocacy for, quality journalism in one’s community. Understanding that such empowerment necessitates (a) a basic belief that journalism has a degree of value/relevance to oneself and (b) a sense of agency in helping to improve the health of the local news media environment, this study draws on the concepts of citizen academies, Perceived News Media Importance, and self-efficacy. Second—representing an empirical focal point—this study initiates exploration of the utility of a journalism-themed citizen forum initiative (in the model of citizen academies) for fostering the community interactive dimension of “citizen journalism” outlined herein. Building on existing research of citizen forums, initial findings support the assertion that such initiatives have the capacity to reinforce the importance of news work (especially related to investigative journalism) while mitigating citizens’ self-perception of inefficacy in helping to support the local news media environment. Our discussion considers how future initiatives might be strengthened to most effectively motivate and empower citizens to advocate for this model of citizen journalism.