Nowadays, traditional practices of journalism have to deal with different forms to reach their audience. New technologies are expanding the possibilities to produce and find free information online, what makes media organization more competitive. Newspapers are threatened by Internet along with the possibility that citizens can give feedback and discuss the news without the control of private or public media institutions.
To understand better this phenomena, pros and cons and consequences, it is necessary to define these new trends of journalism. For that purpose, Stephen Lacy, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and a professor in the Michigan State University Department of Communication and School of Journalism, contributed in this project giving an explanation about what the purpose of citizen sites are and how it does affect the profession of journalism. Lacy explains that,
“Some citizen sites (blogs) are primarily expressions of opinion. A smaller number of citizen sites are news sites, which tend to have the same fact-based approach as commercial news organizations. The difference comes from availability of resources and knowledge of journalism. Our research indicates that citizen site tend to complement not substitute for commercial news organizations. Over time, it is possible that citizen sites might evolve into commercial sites.”
Therefore, based on experts opinions and review of prior literature, it is possible to explain alternative media as a way where citizens become an active audience producing and distributing news content online. However, some questions come into mind where thinking about this phenomena, “Is it a threatened or a complement of professional journalism?” one answer could be that alternative media news-sites can construct a reality that appears to oppose the conventions and representations of the mainstream media.
We know that Internet offers many alternatives for citizens to get knowledge about the world, specially in terms of news web sites, however their interests might not be the same topics as the ones mainstream media news-sites transmit. People delve into the net to know what it is going on in the world within a wider perspective. Therefore, the main interests behind this research project are to know how these alternative news-sites (blogs, independent news sites...) can change or challenge the way citizen are informed.
It is significant to observe how the audience react to the government restrictions of press, and what and how the profession of journalism can change due to the inclusion of the audience as major players in the process of production and dissemination of “news”. There are many differences of freedom of press among countries and since the governments try to control the information published, citizens would need to go beyond media-center protocols and compare, verify and check information in other websites to create a complete picture of the story. Besides, citizens become more than an active audience but producers of information, storytellers, etc with a more important role to play in the information online world.
There are some others key elements that need to be taken into account when talking about online news: access of technology, knowledge about current events or personal motivation can affect the results of why citizen journalism can be more valuable in some countries than others. Naturally, citizens have a word to say in this aspect. Therefore, through surveys conducted among the target group researches will know which factors are seen as more relevant than others where consume information online. Respondents will give the answer and the results will be analyzed in order to compare the freedom situation of news sites in those two countries.
This phenomena could give a new perspective about under what circumstances journalism is developed, what it is the role of governments and what alternatives the journalistic profession has. These can change the way we, the audience, look at journalism only as professional practice or also an activity where everybody can contribute one way or another. The challenge appears whether citizen are well prepare to act as journalists without the respective academic formation.
However, the most important question that really affects journalism is, how can journalism get rid of economic and political pressures from government and media companies?. Only then, we will appreciate a real change in journalistic practices.
