I love catch phrases, especially when the mainstream media (MSM) gets a hold on them. (Do we smell the fetid stench of sarcasm?) In the never-ending quest to capture the life force of anything that seems to actually be thriving, the MSM has landed upon the Citizen Journalist. It isn't just MSNBC that is trying to catch the authenticity of the eyewitness news. Hell, many local newscasts are called Eyewitness News.
The problem is, eyewitness news is hardly reliable. Defense attorneys and psychologists are the first to tell you that you cannot rely on what a person thought they saw. Entire academic departments are dedicated to the study of false memory. So what are these major media outlets doing trolling for citizen reports? My best guess is that they just want your pictures. Well, that, and they want you to feel empowered. Don't let all this power go to your head. You citizen journalists aren't bloggers.
Bloggers are the hyenas nipping at the heels of the lionized MSM. While there can be overlap in the two groups, generally speaking citizen journalists are eyewitnesses to breaking news stories that phone or email their stories in to the MSM. Bloggers, whose definition is a bit more mottled, generally do the writing themselves and have editorial and creative control over their content. If anything forecasts the future of journalism, the decentralization of the blogosphere might be it.
In 2015, the mythical date when all things will be revealed, my money is on things being largely the same. The Internet will continue to leech viewers while television news will have devolved into a complete punditocracy. But we can see that already from the vantage point of 2005. Ten years from now, we will see the tipping point. Can you guess which way it is going to tip? Your guess is as good as mine. Tell me which direction you think things will fall.
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