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
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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.
This is a great blog post and I cannot express how happy I am of the trend where citizens are fighting back against cops who let power get to their heads. I think one of the greatest things about technology is that it is shifting power away from the hands of the people who've had it for so long. I think citizen journalism is going to become the next big thing, as information is a lot easier to capture, record and produce nowadays. This will most likely prove to be a deterrence for policemen. Earlier the only video recording of a police encounter was the footage the police shot through their car or whatever other means. Since they were the only ones with the reality, it was easy for them to make sure the tapes never got to public hands. I agree with you on your stance that citizen journalism is a good thing. It already has made positive changes, one example being the one mentioned in the blog about the NYPD launching an investigation. I think technology itself it changing power relations and how they normally work. Take hacker groups like anonymous that carry out justice through cyber attacks. Apart from that there is not much more to add, all i can say is that I am really glad at how much more popular citizen journalism has become.
ReplyDeleteCitizen journalism, I believe, will be a key component to stopping police brutality as we progress as a society towards the future. As we all are aware, technology is becoming a common thing in our society and we essentially have eyes everywhere due to this fact. At the beginning of the month ABC News reported that during the Puerto-Rican Day Parade in Philadelphia, an officer was caught on video punching and arresting a woman because he assumed she threw water at him. The video clearly does not support that statement. Now instead of solely relying on a police report, justice was served and this officer was dismissed from his position. This is a great example of why citizen journalism is a great thing for publicizing these acts that otherwise would not be known or properly investigated.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/US/police-union-defends-philadelphia-cop-punched-woman/story?id=17395836#.UIR-bsXR7AR