Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

With mobile technology becoming more sophisticated anyone has the ability to shoot videos, take photos and audio recordings and share them on the internet. The public no longer has to rely on mainstream media to report events, instead we can watch it as it really happened - while it happens. The increasing popularity of “citizen journalism” has prompted YouTube to get in on the act as more and more people distribute recordings through the video haring site.

“Elbowing aside the media elite, YouTube wants to grab a seat at the anchor desk with a new channel dubbed “Citizen News.” Harnessing the advantages of the burgeoning citizen journalism movement, YouTube aims to aggregate and capitalize on newsworthy content produced by an increasingly well-equipped user base. An official YouTube channel will give the world’s John and Jane Does a bigger spotlight with which to illuminate stories not picked up by mainstream media….”

Allowing the public to report news is liberating and taking journalism in a direction that has yet to be fully explored. I enjoy the fact that the media will need to be held more accountable for the accuracy of their stories but I am concerned that what the public displays as news could be considerably more biased, not to mention that the more sponsors the “Citizen News” websites acquire the more likely that limitations will be imposed.

“With two giants in their respective fields of old media (CNN) and new (YouTube) supporting the dynamic, up-and-coming realm of citizen journalism, the pitfalls of letting anyone report news beg to be examined. It is certainly a good thing that equipment and communication technologies are getting more advanced, cheaper, and accessible to a much broader worldwide audience. Reducing the news world’s barrier to entry can also be a benefit in the big picture, as Olivia proclaimed in her announcement that “no longer do you have to be a seasoned journalist or a paid commentator to make waves in the news. Everyday citizens are serving as reporters.”

As online video popularity increases in the online world it will be interesting to see where it takes us - which is apparently a VLOG

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Elise