As a common and relevant issue, I have to carry on with my rambling worries about being outdone by the everyday citizen journalist. Hearing a successful journalist (or web development editor), like Joanna Geary, confirm the same concerns, does not strike up too many positive thoughts.
The situation we are now in, where people have an accessibility to broadcast to the world whenever they wish, is looking dire to us hopeful journalists. Do we really need the skills to be employed anymore? Is our research and insight any more valuable than the average internet user? Or, as Joanna says, is it just “like employing a person with three PhDs to flip burgers.”
The strength behind remaining in the industry certainly seems to be hand in hand with having a considerable online status. It seems that the contacts you make and the number of people you reach (through blogging) defines your status within the journalist world.
Joanna explained how she was offered a job on Twitter??! It is no longer about seeing an ad in the paper, applying and proving yourself as a person with the skills to succeed. It is now about proving yourself in advance in order to be offered the job. Surely an everyday citizen journalist could broadcast themselves in the same way, make the contacts and prove themselves in the online world to eventually achieve the same status? As we are constantly being told, all you need is a passion to write about the subject. You don’t need to do a journalism course to have that.
As a final point, I pondered Joanna’s point about making contacts and assuming they are your friends. I think this boundary is a difficult one. Would you want to assume that people you contacted in order to do research for your profession could be classed as ‘friends’? This is where, for me, the whole idea of a journalist breaks down and merges with that of the average citizen who sits at home and chats to people for fun. Is there actually any difference anymore?
