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Social networking and citizen video sharing broadened in important ways as a means of distributing news, not just for social interaction and entertainment, according to stateofthemedia.org in an article titled, “Citizen Based Media.” http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/narrative_special_citzenbasedmedia.php?cat=0&media=12 This goes along with the other aspect of editing social networking and discussion forums. Social networking has become another phenomenon as far as editing is concerned and it has served as a way many people get their news. For example, personally I found out about Michael Jackson’s death through facebook. This venue served as a way for news, but I went to another trusted source such as the radio, or the newstation to validate this claim. This is no different, editing citizen journalism is hard and it will call for some fact checking and things of that nature. Yet, it can give light to an issue as well as social commentary.
Stephen Outing said, “The citizen-journalism movement is where journalism is heading. Newspapers, if they want to stay in the game, need to acknowledge the "lecture" model of journalism is dying, and join in the "conversation.”” There are many pros to citizen journalism and it is a new way we are getting news that newspaper has to incorporate into their traditional model.
"The newspapers that survive will be the ones that make the most of the benefits of the online world. Citizen journalism can in many cases provide free content and the internet provides the ability to reach a much larger audience. The old media that combine their resources with the advantages of new media will thrive. The old media that try to cling to their old methods of doing things will die." – Derek Clark who runs GeekPolitics.com. (Online Journalism Review) http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/gstorch/201002/1826/
The argument being made is that the content is free and you can offer it on the web to a widespread audience. Another benefit I think that is good is that you get to have eyes in the community that you don’t have. Newspapers now are very short staffed and it is important to still be able to report on all events. Citizen journalism also makes news interactive for readers and not just something that read and put down. It is something that they read and engage themselves in.