It’s not any new that the recent technological innovations in the communication made possible a reality with a faster communication process. And with faster communication process, every common citizen can interact with other persons and brands,share and spread contents.
And one of the main consequences of these changes on communication process, specially on online channels, the readers (or the citizens) are no more mere receptors, they have now the possibility to be receptor and emissor at the same time.
This change has been a big challenge to brands and companies, including the newspapers. With the last innovations on communication process, citizens can also comment about the news, express their opinions with other readers or directly to the edition team; they have a space to raise their own voices in front of the traditional media houses opinions.
In another side, the reader now can also expose news, facts and events normally ignored by mainstream press, as a space to share what are really relevant to their interests; so, citizens can also generate contents and news. It doesn’t mean that journalism is going to end, neither that professional journalists don’t have any more space. The point is that the persons want to be part of the process, to be heard and a space where they can raise their own voice.
Then, citizen journalism is one the symbols of this era: an era in which the online communication tools lead the trends on social life, be either online or offline. Throughout the online communication tools, citizen journalism has revealed itself as the best (when not the only) alternative to common citizens share their views and opinions about their own daily reality.
Events like the Arab Spring showed clearly the power of the internet and the social media, even in oposition to authoritarian governments. The recent history has been showing that there’s no doubt to say we are facing in these times the ascension of the era of citizen journalism. Do you agree?
