There are various emerging forms of DIY media including:
- open source software development,
- online publishing, e.g. blogging, and open news (such as OhMyNews)
- media sharing, e.g. YouTube,
- knowledge management, e.g. Wikipedia, Del.ici.ous
- (Bruns 2007)
Another form of DIY media that is undermining the traditional forms is that of citizen journalism and DIY news. There still remains a few skeptical critics of citizen journalism, which I believe mainly arises from the question of whose opinion is reliable? How do we know who isn't just spinning a few yarns just for the sake of it? There are so many different opinions and views that are published on the Internet, that sometimes it becomes hard to sort through the clutter and find a trustworthy source. This is an idea touched on by Tom Merritt of CNET.com. But Merritt (2006) also suggests that this issue of trust also greatly surrounded the introduction of newspapers way back.
While this is one of the more guarded criticisms of citizen journalism, I believe citizen journalism also carries with it various advantages in comparison to traditional mainstream news coverage. Like many other DIY communities, I believe citizen journalism has been developed as a response to user needs. Mainstream news coverage has its shortcomings and has always remained such a biased, prejudiced and predisposed opinion on what the public needs to know. Perhaps the most obvious refute against this, is seen in the documentary "Outfoxed" which explores how Rupert Murdoch's Fox News has been "taking control of the public's right to know" (Outfoxed.org). I believe that citizen journalism puts everything out there because there is no set agenda or delegation of tasks; users are free to participate and add content at their own will which ultimately results in a broader selection of more alternative views. Nothing can really be covered up as the structure of online communities is naturally decentralised and self-organising.
Watch the Outfoxed trailer: (N.B. The whole documentary can be viewed in 9 segments via YouTube).
References:
Bruns, A. (2007). The Future is User-Led: The Path Towards Widespread Produsage. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://produsage.org/articles
Merritt, C. (2006). Citizen Journalism: Inside Information vs. Outside Perspective. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.cnet.com.au/software/internet/0,239029524,240061709,00.htm
Outfoxed. (n.d.). Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.outfoxed.org/
Slashdot. (2006). Citizen Journalism Expert Jay Rosen Answers Your Questions. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://interviews.slashdot.org/interviews/06/10/03/1427254.shtml
Gregory, M. (2008). The End of Elite Liberal Media Empires and the Rise of Citizen Journalism. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http://sadbastards.wordpress.com/
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