The Role of Citizen Journalism in the Era of New Media
In an age where every pocket carries a smartphone and every moment can be shared in real time, journalism has undergone a dramatic transformation. Traditional gatekeepers of information—newspapers, television networks, and press agencies—are now sharing the space with ordinary citizens who are telling their own stories, often live, raw, and unfiltered. This phenomenon is called Citizen Journalism , and in the era of new media, it is not just a side note—it’s a revolution. From Passive Audience to Active Storyteller Gone are the days when the average person relied solely on daily newspapers or nightly newscasts. Today, people don’t just consume news; they create it. When a natural disaster strikes, or a political rally turns volatile, it is often not a journalist with a press pass who reports it first—it’s a bystander, an eyewitness, a citizen with a phone and an internet connection. Citizen journalism enables individuals to capture real-time events and publish them across platforms lik...