Citizen Journalism Is...Current

To be honest I’ve never used a citizen news website and if I’m being even more honest I didn’t really know they existed to extent that they do. I get most of my current affairs news stories from newspapers or traditional websites like msnbc.com. To be even more honest I probably never would have looked at a website like Current before having to critique it for class. However, as someone going into the communications field it is a good thing to be introduced of websites like Current because they are exactly that…current.

Current does a great job of using all of the technological advances in online communications by having citizen journalists upload their own video podcasts. They even have a handy how to section for those who are just becoming familiar with uploading onto their website. They also allow visitors to their website to vote on the top citizen video podcast that will be featured on television. I think this is a great opportunity that Current offers to showcase a non-traditional story by a citizen journalist to its television viewing audience because it says to them, “look what you can do with what is going on in your world.” It also shows how involved Current as a television station and host to the website are in monitoring and commending videos posted by citizen journalists to their site.

Looking at some of the top videos on the website, it is clear that the stories featured are non-traditional, but are relevant to those who made the videos and also to the audiences they are trying to capture. Some videos are about subject that major news outlets would normally not over, like Brenden Macaluso who recycles old computers and turns them into sustainable cardboard desktop computers. Some videos are about news topics such as Blackwater, a military company in Iraq being criticized for their killings of innocent civilians, and combine images and interviews used by major news outlets to show the story that they as the media aren’t showing to the public. Many of the videos I watched on Current show a variety of voices with a variety of sources (not including human interest stories) to report non-traditional stories, however, I think that the videos need to do a better job of citing the sources that the use throughout their pieces because for many sources in several videos I did not know who they were.

Another thing I really liked about the Current website was the ability for viewers to leave comments and discuss videos they have seen. I think as a citizen journalist site, citizen should be able to express their opinions about the videos posted to the site and all videos offer viewers the opportunity to comment. The voting for top video as gives viewers a chance to show a larger audience which video they thought was the most well put together. There is also a “People Are Talking” section that shows the comments that were just posted to different videos. I think the Current website does a great job of incorporating its viewers by letting them comment and showcasing their comments with its own section.

The only major thing that I found with watching some of the videos was that many of the news stories did not report a balanced story. The Blackwater video only reported on the negative things the companies has done in Iraq and made no attempt to hide their feelings that they were against its existence. However, as a citizen journalist it is the video makers duty to present a balanced story while also voicing their opinion. If this video was meant to be an editorial of sorts it should have put that within the story, like the video about the 13-year-old father clearly showed it was an “informania editorial” at the beginning of the video.

Overall, I think websites like Current that feature citizen journalists are a great idea. It showcases non-traditional stories and lets average citizens report news that they think is relevant to their local and sometimes national peers. I think Current is a great citizen website because it offers so many different stories, it allows its viewers many ways of interaction, and it has an active host in its television station.