There’s been some debate on Twitter during the past week about the role of so-called “citizen journalists” and whether they even have the right to be blessed with the J-word. This then went into further discussion as to what makes a journalist, a question that doesn’t really have a simple answer.

Working journalists would argue that their craft is specialised and comes with appropriate qualifications. But, unlike law and medicine, the little piece of paper you get at the end of a journalism degree or cadetship is by no means an exclusive requirement needed to embark on a journalism career.

I think the key to the whole debate rests in the definition of a journalist, which is someone who processes information, weeds out fact from fiction and then presents it a manner which is understandable and informative to the user. This is where the notion of the “citizen journalist” falls over when it comes to describing someone relaying information online via blogs, Twitter and other social media.

During the weekend’s tsunami scare I saw a tweet that could be described as citizen journalism:

CometDudeOur PA system in Okinawa Japan just announced Tsunami warning. evacuate to higher ground #tsunami #okinawa

This is the kind of classic on-the-spot post during a major breaking story that made Twitter famous. But is it journalism? No, it’s not.

• Sure, CometDude is providing important information here, but where’s the detail?
• What sort of tsunami warning has been issued?
• Does the warning include an order to evacuate to higher ground, or is this CometDude’s own advice?
• What is higher ground; the top end of the street or the summit of Mt Fuji?
• And finally, how do we know this is even true?

Sure, there is a limit to what one can write in 140 characters, which makes the case against this being classed as journalism even stronger.

Simply relaying what you’re seeing, or hearing is not journalism, it’s Citizen Commentary, and no different to eyewitness sound bites we see on the news. If that is journalism than “Chk-Chk Boom Girl” Claire Werbeloff might as well join the MEAA.

It could be argued they’re reporters. But reporting involves a lot more than just relaying what you see. It involves gathering such quotes and checking them against other facts before using them in a package to present the story.

Ironically, this is being compromised in order to keep up with the internet. The result is information coming out through supposedly credible news sources before its verified, meaning that basic tenet of journalism, to weed out fact from fiction, is being sacrificed for the sake of providing up-to-the-minute content.

So, yeah, maybe one day the term Citizen Journalist will apply instead of Citizen Commentator, but sadly this will be because the standards that once defined true journalism will sink to its level.

Tags: citizen journalism, journalism, journalists, reporting, social media, Twitter