What is a ‘Citizen Journalist’?

Someone who is at the scene at the right time to identify and bear witness to an event or occurrence deemed newsworthy, of interest, or of entertainment value, to themselves and others.

They most commonly record the evidence on their smartphone and share their images and video footage through social media.

Due to the rapid surge in popularity and now the relative affordability of owning a Smartphone, a worldwide network of potential reporters has been created.

With the Smartphone being at the top of peoples list of ‘essential items not to leave the home without’, an almost guaranteed coverage of unplanned and unpredicted events has been ensured. Events such as human disasters and natural phenomenon.

Indeed, the term ‘citizen journalist’ may well have arisen from the production of eye-witness footage during the 2004 Tsunamis which were consequently broadcast around the world by the mainstream global broadcasters of the time.

As said by our CEO : “Without such tremendously powerful images our own understanding would have been limited.”

The advantages of citizen journalists to traditional coverage

Postulate : There is a void in media coverage which the traditional journalist cannot fill.

This can be due to planning, logistics, budget and timing. A film crew will not always be present just as an event unfolds. The media company has to identify the potential for a story, and make arrangements for employees’ travel, equipment, permissions and perhaps legal access to the location, which may be restricted to official film crews.

This is where the passer-by or local resident is key

This is where the passer-by or local resident is key. They duly recognise the need to document what is happening, to record images on their smartphone and share their first-hand experiences. Consequently, we the public, receive powerful sensory information and the capacity to develop an informed perspective.

Participatory Journalism

The more citizen reporters that participate in authentic footage sharing, the more that information can be carefully collated and pieced together like a jigsaw, revealing the true picture of the event.

We benefit from a multitude of moving images, evidence, so that we can really begin to comprehend the happenings in that place at that time.

Traditionally the media is owned or regulated by governments. The magnitude of bias or censorship cannot always be measured with mainstream media, and as a viewer, we cannot always be certain of the origin of footage and level of authenticity.

Fake news is not part of the citizen reporters DNA

It will be highly unlikely in the future, with the presence of smartphones, for any particular entity to ‘block’ all reporters or to cover-up a reality or mistake. Whilst some have expressed concern that there will possibility be an influx of ‘Fake News’ being created by citizen reporters, actually the opposite is more conceivable.

With several Smartphone footages verifying a subject, with a recorded time and location, due to the incorporated geolocation technologies, it is highly unlikely that they can all be fabricated.

With a decent internet connection, current videos can be uploaded with ease and be ‘trending’ quickly. There will not be time to create an alternative bogus production.

What does the future hold for Citizen Reporters?

Currently citizen reporters are most active in local communities, often contributing to a local social media page and keeping the members abreast of local issues.

At present the citizen reporter is a massively untapped resource. The footage taken by the public is on the whole is not accessed by large media outlets and what is voluntarily uploaded directly to news channels is often supplementary to the ‘official story’ or an entertaining filler of spare page space etc.

The ‘Breaking News’ reporters whose footage has been chosen to air, is unlikely receive payment, being rewarded only by a sense of contribution to society. Yet there is a real potential for earnings to be made.

How Snapparazzi aims to champion Citizen Reporters?

Snapparazzi is developing their cutting-edge media sharing application and platform to sell the public’s uploaded content through a unique online auction system.

This means the ‘Breaking News Reporter’ will be rewarded by receiving 80% of the sale price achieved and gain payment in SnapCoin (cryptocurrency).

The blockchain technologies used will authenticate the transactions and will support the copyright and ownership of material.

The company will also include a feature to alert users, requesting additional coverage at certain locations for planned events and could consequently be offering multiple versions for mainstream media companies to choose from and purchase.

Media companies will make savings, being able to afford quality news material without the need for film crew accompanying journalists.

They will simply access the wide choice of footage taken by citizen reporters through the Snapparazzi Platform, and pay the market rate for the quality of video they choose.

We may even see a shift into a dedicated online news channel, Snapparazzi TV NEWS, supplied entirely by citizen reporter material.