The positives of Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalism is a much rawer form of journalism. Most of the time the quality of the picture is bad and the people behind the camera can't really hold it straight. You can hear the people talking and maybe even cursing, which would not be allowed on regular news channels. But citizen journalism gets the micro-level stories. The news channels like CNN get the macro level story, they tell you about a huge tsunami that took place somewhere, and they tell you an estimate of the casualties, but you never see the real thing. With citizen journalism one gets to see a more personal view of the events, you get to see a family watch from their hotel room as the tsunami washes over the resort they are staying in. This micro-level aspect really makes more of an impression on me than hearing about it over the news. I feel scared for the family as i watch their video, but when i hear about the tsunami on the news the feeling of catastrophe barely even registers. Citizen journalism brings a micro-level view of a story that regular journalism would never be able to provide. Citizens can get up close and personal to the things happening unlike newscasters who usually show up after the event.