Guidry's report on the digital divide used data from 2007-2009, but technology is always becoming more advanced and more available, so his findings are not as relevant today. Now internet adoption rates have leveled off and African Americans and Latinos are just as likely to have mobile phones as whites.
Even Though the Digital Divide Has Decreased, The Participation Gap is Still Prevalent
Even though more people have access to mobile devices and the internet today, the participation gap as described by Guidy is still existent, due to varying degrees of comfort and expertise with mobile devices. The use of technology is greatly influenced by one's financial status, history, and culture. While Latinos and African Americans are just as likely to own a mobile device, they are more likely to rely on it for internet access and a larger variety of uses. This also true with college students, young adults, and those with low incomes. Those who do not have a personal computer with internet access tend to use social networks and other websites differently than those that do.
Mobile Problems Can Cause A Larger Participation Gap
A recent study has shown that the majority of mobile device users encounter issues such as dropped calls, spam texts, unwanted marketing calls, and slow internet speeds at least occasionally. A small percentage even have these problems several times a day. This affects the participation gap, because these problems can be very detrimental to the people as discussed earlier that rely on their mobile devices more than others. Someone who only has access to the internet on his/her mobile device and constantly deals with slow internet speed, is limited in his/her internet experience. Dropped and marketing calls can definitely affect one's experience with technology possibly causing frustration and confusion. Spam texts can easily mislead people and possibly make them have less trust in the service and the device. People who do not experience these problems become more adjusted to the devices and better at using them. This causes the participation gap to expand.
Mobile Problems Are Probably Not A Major Factor in the Digital Divide
While the digital divide is definitely not as large today, there are still people without access to the internet. This group mostly consists of elderly, non-English speaking, and disabled people. Also included are those with low income. These people will probably encounter the mobile problems less than those whole rely on the devices more. Hispanics and African Americans experience them at a higher rates due to there higher reliance, so naturally people who do not own cell phones or own cell phones with no internet access will experience the issues less often or even not at all. The people who do not use the internet claim that the reason they do not is that the internet is not relevant to them. Most have never used the internet before, and therefore will not be aware the mobile issues. Some of these people expressed no interest in ever using the technology so there are other factors in the decision than mobility issues. It does not seem that issues such as spam texts or slow internet speeds on mobile devices are as important in keeping people from adapting to technology as age, education, and income.
Journalism is not only a field for professional reporters and legitimate news organizations. Now, more than ever, the average person can contribute news to the public very easily. With the aid of social networks, one person not affiliated with any news organization can spread a story to the masses quite easily and quickly. This is the idea behind citizen journalism; no longer is a reliance on secondhand news needed, as actual events are witnessed and recorded by citizens and made available to the public.
Advent of Citizen Journalism
Citizen journalism is becoming increasingly prevalent with advances in technology and the increasing availability of smartphones that can record or take pictures and swiftly upload the media to the internet. Today 54.9% of American adults with cell phones have smartphones, and 88% of American adults own a mobile phone in general. That does not even include the vast amount of children that now have smartphones. This means that if a newsworthy event occurs, there is a very good possibility that it will be captured by personal media very quickly. Once recorded, the video or picture can be uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, personal blogs, etc. almost immediately, and from there it can go viral and spread to millions of people before a news reporter has a change to even hear that it happened. While these social networks accelerate the process and the newer technology makes citizen journalism very easy, it is not a recent idea.
Effects of Citizen Journalism on the Police
While citizen journalism is not restricted to any type of news story, I believe the most apparent and effective use is in regards to police corruption and brutality. Police brutality caught on tape is an especially, for lack of a better word, popular example of citizen journalism. Before people always had cameras on their person, they probably felt powerless against the police if they were the subject of police brutality. Today though they have direct evidence that they can show the world, and even build support. While I believe that this is a good thing as it exposes police corruption and public awareness, it definitely has negative effects as well. The many videos spreading on Youtube, can lead to public distrust of police forces, because the videos are so popular and what people most associate with police rather than any good acts. This can cause a sense of hopelessness in a community, as they feel that they can not trust the people that are supposed to be protecting them.
Examples of Citizen Journalism and Brutality As previously stated, citizen journalism is not a completely recent idea, especially in relation to the police. One of the major examples of police brutality being publicized by a citizen was back in 1991. Rodney King was beaten by the LAPD, and it was videotaped by a nearby resident, George Holliday. The effects of this incident are still being felt today as the trust and decency of the police are still held in question by many people. The clip can be seen above, and the anchor even states in the beginning that the story might never have broke if it was not for the man recording it on his own camcorder. Another famous incident occurred during the Occupy Movement at the University of California-Davis where a
policeman pepper sprayed peaceful protesting students unprovoked. In the picture to the right, it is shown that many bystanders are either filming or taking pictures of the event. As a result, the officer lost his job but was not charged with a crime. Yet another example was the University of Maryland Riot of 2010 after UMD beat Duke in basketball. Students flooded Route 1 in celebration and police tried to disband the riot, sometimes with excessive force. One incident was caught on tape by a student where the police officers start beating a person who is not harming them in any way. The officers are currently on trial for their actions.
Other Ways Citizen Journalism Affects Police
The filming of brutality is not the only way that citizen journalism has been used to reveal police corruption to the public. Very recently a young Harlem male was pulled over by the police and secretly recorded the conversation. The officers used racist language and had no legal reason to pull over and frisk the man. This incident has brought about investigation into the practices of the NYPD, and a deeper look at the relationship of the police and the community. NYPD officers actually came forward to describe how they are pressured into these actions. One said,
"The civilian population, they’re being hunted by us...instead of being
protected by us, they’re being hunted and we’re being hated.”
Is Citizen Journalism Good or Bad?
As seen through these examples, I believe that citizen
journalism is very helpful in publicizing criminal acts caused by a supposed
respectable authority. These incidents would probably not be reported to the public without the help of
citizens documenting them. Even though they may cause distrust between citizens
and the police, I believe that it is necessary in order for change to occur.
With police forces being investigated and corrupt police officers being charged
and/or fired, hopefully these incidents will stop happening and the relationship between citizens and the police will be repaired.
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