Community Journalism

Plaissance very clearly suggests that communities are significant in the realm of communications and media. He presents the idea of "participatory journalism" in which average civilians play a more active role in news coverage and distribution. More so than before, non-journalists are becoming involved with and even pivotal to journalists seeking first-hand and authentic accounts of various events. Plaissance mentions the media's use of civilian cell phone images from the 2005 London train bombings, and he argues that "it is almost expected that eyewitness content will be used from people who would never otherwise call themselves journalists" (Plaissance, 226). Its interesting how "the public" has become a source that journalists and media professionals turn to for eyewitness content, when conversely, the public has almost always turned to media for such information. That relationship seems like it should be mutually beneficial, and for a time it has been. Nevertheless, with the continuous improvement of cell phones, cameras, and other digital devices, it's becoming easier for the average Joe to capture and distribute news.

This article from the Huffington Post uses cell phone footage as the basis of its story. The video shows two suspects of the Charlie Hebdo bombings brutally murdering a police officer. While there is no mention about from who the footage came from, the Huffington Post uses it as the sole source and topic of its story. That's just one example of the media using the public to tell the story.

However, with social media, the public has begun to take on a more active role in the news realm. Take for example, the Ferguson protests. While major news networks did eventually cover them and provided some information about them, the most compelling and accurate information came from Twitter—from people providing first-hand accounts. The media eventually stopped talking about the story, but the internet didn't. Updates, videos, and tweets were (and still are) constantly circulating, providing a more comprehensive and detailed look than the news networks did.

While the public will always turn to the media for information, I think it's becoming increasingly more apparent that sometimes the public itself is a good source. People are turning to the internet for answers instead of the newspaper or the TV. First-hand accounts are becoming more valuable than catchy headlines. The credibility of the public is increasing.