Citizen and Community Journalism Midterm Exam

Differentiate citizen journalism and community journalism in only 6-10 sentences.

        The difference in citizen and community journalism lies in scope and background. The versatility a citizen journalist has over a community journalist is much larger. A citizen journalist isn’t limited to their own community, their scope is much broader, they can cover and spread out in different areas. A community journalist however, though limited to their community, has an extensive background knowledge of said community which can only be possible through spending a lengthy amount of time to absorb and fully understand the culture, and traditions. Citizen and community journalists both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but the thing about journalism is the spirit of collaboration. One journalist can cover the weakness of another, that’s why we have beat reporting. With that being said, collaboration between citizen and community journalists not only helps both cover their weaknesses, but also enhances their strengths.

Choose a unique local issue which you think can be resolved by community journalism and why

       Here in Plaridel, our community within our subdivision, Rocka Village, which is divided into three sections used to be connected. As times change, robbery cases grew, and gates were built between the three parts to prevent robbers from freely entering. Robbery cases were so bad, they had to put a lock one of the gates, specifically in Rocka Annex, and only homeowners were given the keys to unlock them, making it extremely hard for the other sections of Rocka to visit friends over at Rocka Annex. The inconvenience this security protocol causes to the community grows more apparent as time passes, and it looks as if the officials aren’t changing their minds any time soon. This opens the door for community journalism to step in, as it would only take a few volunteer community journalists to go around Rocka, interview the citizens, and publish/post their thoughts online. It wouldn’t take long for the story to gain traction, and eventually alert the officials. This would spark a conversation between the officials and the citizens, hopefully eventually leading to an agreement that can benefit both sides.