Midterm Exam

 Differentiate between citizen and community journalism in your own words. Explain in 6-10 sentences.

In citizen journalism, the news or the story comes from citizens that are usually posted on social media. These are the viral posts or events that people need to know about such as calamities, incidents, and/or accidents. Community journalism is where the story or news comes from a community that can be seen in some documentaries. Citizen journalism is from the people themselves who report the news through social media, while community journalism is a type of journalism where journalists soak in a community to make stories. For example, Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho (KMJS) uses citizen and community journalism in featuring their stories. The case of Killuah, a golden retriever who was killed by a barangay police officer is one of the ones they featured that came from Killuah's fur-parent's post that quickly went viral and because of this, the authorities paid attention to the incident. On the other hand, 6 years ago they also featured a community in Mindanao that created their own country called Maharlika Nation which caused huge chaos and stopped its operation because it was found to be illegal.

Choose a unique local community issue that can be solved through citizen journalism. Explain in 6-10 sentences.

Many of us are becoming fur-parents these days, but there are still some people who are cruel to animals especially to stray dogs and cats. There are many strays in our Sitio in our barangay in Santa Maria, Bulacan and most of them are experiencing maltreatment from people around our community. If this cruelty is captured on video or picture and posted on social media there is a chance to save strays from the hands of people in our area just like in how the case of Killuah, a golden retriever who was killed. If justice was given to Killuah through citizen journalism, justice could also be given to the strays that are screaming for help but cannot be heard. There are a lot of groups in social media such as Cats and Dogs Rescue Philippines and Bantay Animal Welfare who are active in helping animals. Groups like this are also the ones that helped the spread of Killuah's case on social media. I believe that we can suppress animal cruelty by using social media as a platform to spread awareness, give help and to be the voice of the voiceless animals.