From natural disasters to toothbrushes: The good and bad of citizen journalism
(Above image: Heath Harrison / @heathharro / Newcastle Herald)
Social media means we can all be publishers in 2020.
Sometimes that’s great.
Casual Facebookers and Instagrammers become citizen journalists when natural disasters strike, informing the public and indeed the media about what’s happening.
Dubbo dust storm
— Jason Herbig (@jason_herbig) January 19, 2020
Dubbo right now …. pic.twitter.com/gsiJ501NfW
— Heath Harrison (@HeathHarro) January 19, 2020
Melbourne’s hail storm
happy birthday val! 30 mins ago it was 30c and sunny. #melbweather pic.twitter.com/Xnpt9OBbOw
— Daniel (@firewaters) January 19, 2020
Just before at Templestowe #woolies. Multiple parts of the ceiling collapsed and all customers were forced to evacuate. Like a scene from Titanic. Stay safe all! #melbweather pic.twitter.com/bD3cqo2VHO
— Chris Kounelis (@ChrisKounelis) January 19, 2020
But it doesn’t always end well.
Without editors and producers, citizen journalist can… miss the mark.
Like this guys, who used it to shame a Target employee over a toothbrush.
It was widely attacked for being petty.
Just before at Templestowe #woolies. Multiple parts of the ceiling collapsed and all customers were forced to evacuate. Like a scene from Titanic. Stay safe all! #melbweather pic.twitter.com/bD3cqo2VHO
— Chris Kounelis (@ChrisKounelis) January 19, 2020