Blogging, vlogging and citizen journalism all make up what we call citizen journalism. Blogging and vlogging have a relatively short history, starting roughly in the early 2000s. Blogging was first and then came vlogging. The word "vlogging" is a combination of the word video and logging; essentially vlogging is the logging of video.
And what is citizen journalism? Well it's pretty self-explanatory. It's journalism done by the average citizen.
Advancements in technology has made citizen journalism prevalent. Anyone can blog, vlog, record, etc. Citizen journalism really caught fire in the 1990s and 2000s. And today, it is very common.
George Holliday is one of many citizen journalists. Holliday captured the video of the beating of Rodney King on his camcorder back in 1991. After meeting with a TV news station (KTLA), the video of the assault on King went viral and became not only a national story but a global one. I am certain that if George Holliday was unable to capture the video, the officers likely would have created a story that would fit their narrative. And even though there was documented video of the beating of Rodney King, the officers still were not found guilty. And that verdict created outrage in Los Angeles leading to the LA riots.
The beating of Rodney is one of the most famous and identifiable photos of the 20th century.
Without Frazier's quick wit and pulling out her phone, Floyd's murderer would likely be free. With implied immunity being the way it is, some how, some way, Chauvin would probably have got off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
"Even though this was a traumatic life-changing moment for me, I'm proud of myself. If it weren't for that video, the world wouldn't have known the truth. I own that. My video didn't save George Floyd, but it did put his murderer away and off the streets."
How many 17-year old's would have the courage and poise to record such an event?
Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd and with the video evidence provided by Frazier, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
Frazier ended up winning several awards for the video she captured. In 2021, she won the Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards as well as the BET Shine a Light Award. And in 2022, she won the NAACP Humanitarian of the Year Award.
But is citizen journalism good or bad? I think it’s both.
I think if citizen journalists practice journalism is an ethical way it’s great, but when they do not, and ethical, journalistic codes are broken, it is detrimental to the purity of journalism.
However, with "fake news" being as widespread as it it is, it might just be a good thing. It might mean that the common citizen is tired of wondering about and questioning the credibility of the news they consume. To sum up citizen journalism in a phrase: if you want something done right, do it yourself.
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