Street Journalism

How blogs and Youtube are reshaping our lives and how should we read them

Provincia di Alessandria - Servizio Protezione Civile

Social Media Melting in Emergencies 2012

Massimiliano MesenascoMedia Languages B.A.

@MMesenasco

Citizen journalism is based on the prosumer, the key figure of the Web.

The prosumer melts the figures of producer and comsumer to create a “superuser” who reads

other users’ content and creates its own.

The Web prosumer was born together with the first BBS in the early 90’s but gained popularity with the proliferation of the first bloggers in

1997.

Blog is a portmanteau for the words web log: this expression appeared in 1999.

This were the first blogging services:

- Open Diary, 1998

- LiveJournal, 1999

- Blogger.com, 1999

Today blogging is almost overwhelmed by social media:

- Youtube

- Flickr

- Ustream

- Tumblr

With the widespread presence of mobile connections, citizen journalism hits the street:

in some parts of the World (ex. China, Australia) wireless connections exceeded fixed lines and this trend will become global in a few years.

1983: just phonecallsover TACS network

2007: cellular and Wi-Ficonnectivity, 2Mp

camera

Web 2.0, the “New Web”, is the hometown of the prosumer, thanks to the rise of social

networks and social media.

Every user is free to publish its own news on the social media and boost them through social

networks.

The users create a dimension of informal and unofficial news that spreads over the links and

the nodes of the net.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, this mass of unofficial informations started to leak into the world of the traditional media and the prosumer

has become a primary source for news covering.

And what are the consequences of this process for the management of an emergency?

Official Unofficial

Mass Media

Command&

Control

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PeerCommunication

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Let’s put it into practice...

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Official Unofficial

Mass Media

Command&

Control

a

a

PeerCommunication

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TV, radio, press...

Social Networks,Social Media

Social Networks,Social Media,

Media websites

Posters, megaphone, bullettins, Social Networks, Social Media

Official statements,press releases

Social Networks, Social Media,e-government tools

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Main controversies against citizen journalism:

Objectivity

Quality

These two aspects are strictly related since an incomplete or partial piece of news could equally

be partisan and/or of poor quality.

Controversy: Objectivity

Citizen journalists may be activists for the issues or within the communities they write about.

This lack of trustworthiness may affect both social media and the traditional media who use

the citizens as a source.

Warning!Even photos and videos could easily be partisan

Pics from 11/16/2012 student demonstration in Italy

ProPolice

Prodemonstrator

s

Warning!Even photos and videos could easily be partisan

Every frame appeals to a specific image in our collective imagination that’s part of our cultural references.

These references belongs to the cultural system we share with the other member of our generation, social

class, political party, religion and so on...

Controversy: Quality

Citizen journalists are not information professionals so their product could not include

some informations that are fundamental to understand the whole story.

Just one more reflection with no answer.

With citizen journalism, the masses become a part of the Fourth Estate.