Citizen Journalism Research Articles

Citizen journalism under pressure: The case of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines

Citizen journalism was perceived to be a beacon of hope for democracy throughout countries in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, recnt developments indicate citizen journalism in the region is being challenged. This research exploits Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory to understand contemporary Southeast Asian citizen journalism. The data was collected by way of semi-structured interviews conducted with thirty people participating in citizen journalism from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The findings demonstrate prevalent economic, political, and cultural pressures in these countries, with political factors exerting the most pressure on the rise of citizen journalism. All three nations experience political pressure via regulations, with the Philippines being subjected to the most pressure due to extrajudicial killings and the intimidation of journalists. Owing to financial constraints, citizen journalism acts as a venue for mainstream media to obtain free content from citizen journalists. Citizen journalists in Indonesia earn significant incomes, although professional journalists covertly adopt their posts. Cultural pressure capital is exhibited when journalists apply ethical journalism to citizen journalists by means of training. Moreover, in the Philippines, citizen journalism is commonly positioned by government-supporting politicians to disinform. This study delivers an extensive and comparative overview, strengthening the case to update field theory.

Cross-national civilian reporting of the everydayness of war: Emerging citizen journalism practices in Palestine and Kashmir

This article explores how Palestinian and Kashmiri civilians engage with the everyday reality of war. The focus is on understanding how citizens temporarily adopt the roles of war correspondents, contributing to the broader conflict narrative. Employing an inductive approach, the study integrates ethnography, phenomenology, and reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) to gain insights into how citizen journalists shape war narratives. Analysing the interview data through RTA reveals six key themes: “Emerging citizen journalism practices,” “Community Consciousness,” “Challenges in media perception,” “Self-expression and Social cohesion,” Responding to Authoritarian Falsehoods”, “Teen journalism”, and “Self-protection and safety”. The findings suggest that the citizen journalism practices in Palestine and Kashmir strategically report the war narratives, representing a progressive journalism practice. The results underline that citizen journalism practices in these regions purposefully present war narratives and represent a form of constructive journalism, which responds to authoritarian regimes’ extensive control over mainstream media and facilitates reconciliation and peace. Such citizen journalism practices act as an equipoise to data imbalances in information architecture for the consumers. The research underscores how conflict citizen journalism embodies activist and collaborative models with robust potential for replication in other conflict-ridden areas.

Media Network and Citizen Journalism: The Transition from Agenda Setting to Agenda Loop

ABSTRACT This study examines agenda-setting and citizen journalism networks between Baidupedia, the Chinese version of Wikipedia, and various media channels, demonstrating the influence of effective agenda-setting on individuals’ engagement in citizen journalism behavior. Using social network analysis and Granger causality tests, we found that Baidupedia is part of the agenda network of mainstream media, portal websites, and other media outlets. Our research also highlights the “agenda loop” phenomenon, where outcomes from individuals’ news production shape the agendas of other media channels, expanding our understanding of agenda-setting on an individual’s level. Cultural influences and regulations as well as the political system also significantly contribute to the intermedia agenda-setting effect. These findings contribute to our understanding of agenda-setting in the present media environment and shed light on the correlation between effective agenda-setting and people’s participation in citizen journalism production.

Alternative News Values in Community Citizen Journalism: The Case of PeoPo in Taiwan

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the news values of community citizen journalism and the behind journalistic identity. Drawing upon content analysis (N = 400) and semi-structured interviews (N = 12) with the reporters and in-house staff of a community citizen journalism platform, I argue that community citizen journalism follows alternative news values that deviate from the conventional norms and practices of mainstream media, prioritizing stories featuring ordinary people, a regional focus, and positive news. Given that community citizen journalists are most familiar with their surroundings, they can portray the reality of their community in a sensible, practical, and realistic way, using their words to serve the social empathy function and resonate with society. However, alternative news values can be seen as complementary to mainstream media rather than adversarial, providing a more comprehensive portrayal of reality. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Hyperlocal journalism in the face of the advance of news deserts: scoping review

Hyperlocal media ecosystems have attracted increasing academic interest due to the impact of the Internet and social networks, and even more so due to concerns about the vitality of journalism in contexts of press decline with a clear lack of availability and quality of information. This study reviews the field of ‘news deserts’ from the perspective of ‘hyperlocal journalism’ until earlier 2023 in major scientific databases to identify the main fronts, challenges and opportunities. This emerging concept indicates a growing global concern about the disappearance of local media, leaving areas isolated in informational, social and cultural dimensions. The study shows the United States, United Kingdom and Australia with the largest presence, followed by Spain and Scandinavia, while it is beginning to set the public and media agenda in Latin America. We found six research fronts: Studies on audiences, Citizen journalism, Enterprise and business models, Hyperlocal media stage, News deserts and Methodological proposals.

Is social media a helpful communicative tool in combatting corruption in developing countries? Evidence from Ghana

The traditional mainstream media is often considered part of the capital and power network involved in corruption, casting doubt on the traditional media’s watchdog functions. This study examines whether social media can be a positive communicative tool for addressing corruption, especially in developing countries such as Ghana. Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews and relevant secondary data, Habermas’s theory of the public sphere, and the notion of citizen journalism as a form of social accountability, the study addresses key questions: As a communicative platform/tool, does social media provide utility toward the fight against corruption? In what ways does social media support or undermine the fight against corruption? Findings indicate that social media is a valuable communicative instrument for combating corruption. It offers an alternative platform for exposing corruption; naming and shaming offenders; and mobilizing, organizing, protesting, and demanding accountability. Nevertheless, the study reveals that social media routinely spreads fake news, propaganda, and misinformation, undermining its credibility as an effective anti-corruption communicative tool. This article contributes to the debate on whether social media is a valuable communicative tool in the fight against corruption, especially in the developing country context.

User-Generated Content and Cultural Public Relations Approach to the Virtual Branding of Lombok Tourism

Information about tourist attractions is the right of tourists protected by tourism laws and consumer protection. One approach used to fulfill consumer information is through User Generated Content (UGC). This approach serves as virtual branding activities to promote tourist attractions. The content presented must be able to attract visitors' interest. Therefore, there needs to be an effort by tourism managers to provide facilities and tourism infrastructure to ensure visitor comfort. The experiences of tourists will become content published on social media or applications used in User Generated Content (UGC) activities. The purpose of this research is to analyze the motives behind visitors' communal experiences and to analyze the challenges faced by tourism managers in dealing with User Generated Content (UGC) activities. This study uses a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. The results obtained indicate that the main motive consciously and collectively built for UGC is to share useful information about tourist attractions through citizen journalism activities. Other results show that the challenges faced by tourism managers in dealing with UGC activities include enhancing facilities, improving tourism accessibility, and increasing cooperation to generate more UGC content by actively involving the community through local activities. One successful example of cooperation is through empowering local residents in the traditional weaving handicraft activities typical of Lombok, which are part of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

“I've lost my children to vaping”: A frame analysis of the Australian media's construction of the “Youth vaping crisis”

BackgroundYouth vaping has become an issue of extreme concern in the Australian public and political discourse, recently culminating in the announcement of further restrictions on the sale and use of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) by the Federal Government. We examine how youth vaping has been framed in the Australian news media in the six months leading up to the announcement of these new measures in May 2023. MethodsDrawing a sample from the Factiva database, we conducted a frame analysis on articles published during this six month period, identifying media framings that included the necessary components of a distinct Problem Definition, Causal Attribution, Moral Evaluation, and Treatment Recommendation. ResultsWe identified 123 relevant articles, and four dominant framings being applied. Most common was that of A Failure of Control, followed by A Poisonous Epidemic, A Health Behaviour Needing Regulation, and A Moral Failure. ConclusionThese findings are discussed in the context of moral panic theory and how framings are constructed by the media in collaboration with policy actors to support particular policy measures.

A sala de aula extramuros: o impacto da curricularização da extensão na graduação de Jornalismo

This study investigates the impacts of including extension credits in undergraduate courses on the training of journalists. It describes the work carried out by PUC-Rio Journalism and Citizenship students at the Fala Roça newspaper, in Rocinha, a favela in southern Rio de Janeiro. The theoretical research is supported by the concepts of the “community that comes” (Agamben, 1993) and the “external agent”, by the Canadian philosopher Kenneth Schmitz, as Raquel Paiva described in her work Espírito Comum: comunidade, mídia e globalismo (2003), which addresses relationships established by the partnership and the development of “responsibility” proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) in the act of producing citizen journalism. This research shows that university extension enables the journalism discipline to train journalists who have “responsibility” and can effectively be social agents by transforming the society in which they live.

Use of free labour in the media within the scope of citizen journalism: A case study of the main news bulletin on Show TV

Use of free labour in the media within the scope of citizen journalism: A case study of the main news bulletin on Show TV

Unveiling Urban Voices: Citizen Reporter Impact on Public Services Responsiveness in Makassar City

Unveiling Urban Voices: Citizen Reporter Impact on Public Services Responsiveness in Makassar City

Use of Social Media Platforms for Citizen Journalism on Security Challenges in Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students

The immediacy of social media gives citizens the ability to monitor real-world events and security issues and get immediate feedback that can help shape their responses and priorities, which can also be valuable in promoting security in general. Through its constant use, social media has played a significant role in fostering both positive and negative facets of insecurity. Therefore, this study investigated use of social media platforms and engagement in citizens’ journalism regarding security challenges in Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students. The study adopted descriptive survey research design; multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted in the sample selection of 403 respondents. A validated instrument named; Citizen Journalism Social Media Questionnaire(r=0.874) was used for data collection; data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that students of The Polytechnic Ibadan made use of popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp (weighted x̄ 1.40) respectively and engaged in online discussion of security challenges to a large extent using Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, and others (weighted x̄ 2.11). Also, there was no significant difference (r = 0.053, p<0.05) in level of engagement in online discussion on security challenges in Nigeria. Thus, the study concluded that The Polytechnic Ibadan students’ social media use does not have any influence on security challenges in Nigeria. The study recommended that security information should be promptly disseminated virtually by security operatives to avoid spreading of fake security news through social media platforms.

Social media ecology in an influencer group: Intersection between Fiji's media and social media

Social media use in Fiji has expanded in recent years and has become a ubiquitous feature in wider society. Social media ecology focusses and examines the dimensions of an online environment and its interplay with human experiences in user engagement. These dimensions with human experiences in user engagement, can provide an insight into how influential social media groups can become in shaping discourses and views. To examine and discuss the social media ecology of an influencer group, the article details one of Fiji’s largest and most influential online groups. To do this, the article uses digital ethnography, supplemented with social media analytics. This study provides key findings in the social media ecology of influencer groups and online behavior. These findings may have implications for further research in media, citizen journalism, viral content creation and online political campaigning.

Media plurality, independence and Talanoa: An alternative Pacific journalism education model

The shrinking mainstream media plurality in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a context for examining publication of campus-based media where student and faculty editorial staff have successfully established an independent Asia-Pacific digital and print press over the past two decades. New Zealand’s largest city Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) has the largest urban population of Pacific Islanders globally—more than 300,000 people in a total of 1.7 million (Pasifika New Zealand, n.d.), earning the moniker ‘Polynesian capital of the world’. The presenter has had a pioneering role with four university-based journalism publications in the Pacific region as key adviser/publisher in Papua New Guinea (Uni Tavur, 1993-1998); Fiji (Wansolwara, 1998-2002); and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, 2009-2015; Asia Pacific Report, 2016 onwards), and also with two journalism school-based publications in Australia (Reportage, 1996, and The Junction, 2018-2020) (Robie, 2018). In early 2021, he was co-founder of the Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa Incorporated which has emerged as a collective umbrella for academics, student journalists and independent reporters producing innovative publications, including the research journal Pacific Journalism Review and a strengthened Asia Pacific Report, which draw on a cross-disciplinary range of media contributors and scholars in other professions. These contributors are mindful of the challenges of reportage about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article explores an independent journalism model drawing on professional outlets for Asia-Pacific students and how an investigative and storytelling model like ‘Talanoa Journalism’ can be an effective bridge to alternative media careers and addressing ‘blind spots’ in legacy news media.

Constitutional Rights of Citizen Journalism in Indonesia: From Maqashid Sharia Perspective

The conception of a democratic rule of law in Indonesia has implications for the social and law order as a protection for the citizens. The protections guarantee the rights and responsibilities of every person regulated or protected by a democratic state. Either of the rights protected by the constitutions of Indonesia is guaranteed in obtaining and conveying information. As a profession, it is a part of journalistic activities, both professional and citizen journalism, as a constitutionally inherent right. The problem encountered is protection for citizen journalism, which is not regulated as protection for journalists in the legal system of the press. This research employed a qualitative model with a normative juridical approach to conceptualise the laws with facts and phenomena of journalistic activities. The analysis aims to assert that every person has a constitutional right to obtain and convey information like a professional journalist. A law is responsible for citizen journalism based on the law system of the press and code of ethics, which places citizen journalism products as a part of the news on press channels or press companies as the objects of the media that publish information. The concept of the principles of citizen journalism is related by maqashid shariah in Islam, which includes al-ahkam al-khamsah, namely religious protection (hifz al-din), protection of the soul (hifz al-nafs), protection of offspring (hifz al-nasl), protection of ideas/thoughts (hifz al-'aql), and protection of property (hifz al-mal).

Memes During the Times of War in the Publications of the Polish News Website: Functions and Narratives/Memy w czasie wojny w publikacjach polskich serwisów informacyjnych: funkcje i narracje

This paper presents findings from a study examining the role and functioning of crisis-time memes, particularly during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in Polish news websites Rzeczpospolita, Fakt, and WP Wiadomości. It also explores related primary narratives in the context of media tabloidization, and the influence of stylistics and practices from both citizen journalism and social networks. Linguistic, culturological, thematic, and content analyses indicate that strategies of meme usage are influenced by their socio-cultural nature as unique expressions of public opinion (Vox Populi), as well as by the editorial policy of the media and journalists’ intentions. Authors employ memes not only to illustrate themes but also as informational triggers and even sources. Some publications directly or indirectly raise the issue concerning the role of media in simplifying public perception of contemporary problems. In this context, memes can function both as a tool for tabloidization and as a means of formulating and researching complicated themes, such as resistance to propaganda and populism. Quantitative analysis data confirm that Rzeczpospolita media publishes the most memes about the war, despite positioning itself in the segment of qualitative mainstream media and not excessively using memes as illustrations. Conversely, Fakt and WP Wiadomości, which prefer themes of sports and politics, exploit this format intensely. Simultaneously, authors of Rzeczpospolita primarily use verbal descriptions of memes or employ them to achieve various artistic and expressive effects while preserving journalistic factual material and often avoiding information visualization.

DEMOCRATIZING INDIA: THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

The democratization of media in India has ushered in a dynamic era marked by both challenges and opportunities, particularly in the realms of political activism and youth empowerment. The primary aim of this article is to investigate the impact of media on political activism and the empowerment of youth within the Indian democratic context. It seeks to explore how various media platforms, including digital and social media, contribute to shaping political opinions and facilitating civic engagement among India’s younger population. This article delves into the multifaceted role of media in shaping India's democratic landscape, with a specific focus on its impact on political discourse, citizen engagement, and youth empowerment. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and empirical evidence, the article explores the challenges posed by the spread of misinformation, regulatory constraints, and digital inequalities, while also highlighting the opportunities presented by citizen journalism initiatives, alternative media outlets, and social media platforms. By equipping citizens, especially the youth, with critical media literacy skills and promoting digital citizenship, India can navigate the complexities of media democratization to foster a more inclusive, participatory, and resilient democracy. Through this analysis, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between media, politics, and youth empowerment in the context of India's evolving democratic landscape. The future of Indian democracy will significantly depend on how well the nation manages to harness the potential of media platforms to foster informed political participation while mitigating the risks associated with digital media proliferation. As this article illustrates, nurturing a resilient and inclusive democratic process is contingent upon empowering the youth with the tools to critically engage with media and actively participate in the democratic governance of their country.

TRANSFORMASI DIGITAL : APLIKASI CANVA SEBAGAI MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN YANG INOVATIF DAN KOLABORATIF DALAM PENDIDIKAN SD/MI

ABSTRACT The digital transformation has brought comprehensive changes across variousdomains, one of which is the realm of education. One digital innovation that can be utilized inteaching is the Canva application, a graphic design system offering various features and templates that are use friendly for creating various type visual learning materialsto create different types of visual materials.The use of Canva in elementary (SD) and Islamic elementary schools (MI) can serve as an innovative and collaborative medium, thus enhancing the quality of education. The objective of this research is to explore the implementation of Canva in learning media in SD/MI and analyze its impact on student engagement an learning outcomes. Literature review is the method employd in this study, with the integration of Canva into the curriculum, aiming to create a more dynamic and enjoyable learning environment.

Digitalization of Tourism and the Role of Generation Z in Parepare City (An Analysis from the Perspective of New Media Cultural Participation Theory)

The Parepare City Government's policy of positioning the city as an industry without smokestacks, as outlined in the city's vision 2018-2023, the development of the tourism sector as highly urgent. Alongside digital media determinism, there is opportunity to develop a smart city that implements a series of tourism developments through digitalization to increase tourist visits, with a tourism digitalization program through the contributions of Generation Z. Based on research findings, Parepare City Government has encouraged policies for the involvement of Generation Z through various policies, such as programs and budgets to encourage the involvement and competence of Parepare's Generation Z residents. They has a significant contribution to tourism development through the use of information and communication technology, including citizen journalism, social media platforms, and cultural events that converge with digital information, as part of the globalization of Parepare's tourism information based on new media. This aligns with theory proposed by Henry Jenkins that the presence of new media will encourage audiences to collectively take roles, including Generation Z. Hence, Generation Z contributes to the activities on social media platforms for disseminating tourism information about Parepare City. The digital space participation of Parepare's Generation Z acts both as followers and prosumers.

Amplifying Voices in the Pandemic: A Critical Analysis of Citizen Journalism’s Emotional Narrative During COVID-19

Amplifying Voices in the Pandemic: A Critical Analysis of Citizen Journalism’s Emotional Narrative During COVID-19