By Srishty Verma
Citizen journalism is gaining importance in today's life. It is increasingly practiced worldwide thanks to the growth of internet services, new media technologies, and social media platforms. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube offer new ways to engage the public, and with easy internet access, anyone can upload and share content as a citizen journalist.
Technology and digital gadgets have expanded citizen journalism across the world in a very short time. Mobile phones and social media can be powerful tools for circulating news during an incident or a natural disaster, often before media services arrive. When cyclone Tauktae hit near the Mumbai coastal areas in 2021, video footage recorded by an onboard crew member showed the actual scale of the disaster and was later circulated by mainstream media. Easy access to cameras and internet-connected smartphones made it possible to capture the event in real time.
A developing country like India has both urban and rural populations with wide digital differences, yet a growing number of Indians use online platforms to share news. Beyond Facebook and Twitter, WhatsApp is widely used to pass content to friends and family, making ordinary citizens active distributors of information.
Citizen journalism is practiced by individuals and locals without formal journalistic training, often with nothing more than a smartphone. Online platforms have made sharing smoother and faster, empowering people to tell stories they witnessed themselves - issues the press could not always cover in real time.
One of the clearest examples is the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were notably reported in real time on Twitter by ordinary people on the ground. Examples like this show that citizen journalists are being taken seriously both by their audiences and by mainstream media.
Citizen journalists contribute not only to the news but also to emergency communication during a crisis. They step in when mainstream media fails to draw attention to an incident or is simply not present. Journalists cannot be everywhere, and that is where citizen journalism plays its responsible role. Online users often turn to citizen journalists because hashtags and tagging make their reports a quick way to reach the public, and social media has become a genuine tool for journalism.
