With spring training getting under way last week for the Chicago Cubs and all the other teams around Major League Baseball, citizen journalism seems like a great idea. Who doesn't want to see Juan Pierre in his new Cubs uniform? (Actually in his uniform and not a digitally imposed one.) As of February 19, 2006, Carrie Muscat, the Cubs.com writer, has yet to post any spring training pictures. If a fan sees something interesting, why not let him or her post it online?
It's not just pictures at spring training that would be interesting to sports fans, but videos or pictures of outside events involving athletes would garner much attention. A citizen journalist's video of the J.R. Giddens stabbing would be, without a question, one of the most watched videos in the town of Lawrence.
It's too early on in the game to determine all the particulars of how to regulate citizen journalism. Should citizen journalists be paid? Should they be associated with reputable news organizations? Should they have their own websites and regulate the content themselves?
I love the idea of citizen journalism when it comes to sports. I think the benefits of citizen journalism can be the same for both sports and hard news. The one underlying theme of citizen journalism, no matter what topic is being covered, seems to be the trust factor. How can anyone trust what is being produced? I would say that it comes down to the number of submissions of any given story. I think it's safe to say that when there are numerous reports of the same story with video and pictures that the story is legitimate. That's not to say a story submitted by a single person can't be true, but more checking into the validity of the story would be required.
I really don't see any difference at all between real journalists and citizen journalists as far as credibility is concerned. One reason for this has to stem from recent incidents involving real journalists fabricating their stories.
I can't and won't even try to answer these questions on journalism theory, but what I can tell you is that I'm waiting on pins and needles to see that first snap shot of Juan Pierre wearing some bright blue knee-high socks.
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