New/Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is a controversial trend in journalism that has put news reporting into the hands of ordinary citizens without any journalism training. While there are some drawbacks to this type of news, there are also plenty of benefits to both writers and readers. Getting news on the spot from those affected by the events has given news a new dimension of human interest, and it allows that news to get to the public more quickly.

Citizen journalism can be found on websites as diverse as CNN, with its iReporter program, to small, personal blogs. A citizen reporter can publish a news story on an online news or content site that accepts news stories, on personal websites and blogs or they can be submitted to sites devoted to the topic.