I-Witness: Safety concerns in the age of citizen journalism

By Eric Matthies

Eric Matthies: It is increasingly important that the major news outlets consider the safety of their fledgling citizen reporters (Eric Matthies)

There is no question that publicly generated journalism has proliferated dramatically over the past few years. Citizens of the world have increasingly gained access to technologies like mobile phones, smart devices, social media accounts and digital publishing. The use of these tools to get news and information out of oppressive, hostile environments is often hailed as heroic, patriotic and democratic when seen by Western audiences. When foreign blogger and cell phone video reporters are censored there is outcry. Why then do those same Western audiences seem to accept the oppression and censorship of civilian journalism when it happens in our own cities?

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