I've got the power!

I've got the power! I've got the power to say what goes on KUJH TV's website. I've got the power! I've got the power to say yea or nay to story ideas. I've got the power! I've got the power to choose the content and importance of each story.

Allowing stories from citizen journalists means I get to choose what goes on the web.

Right now, all I am doing is placing video on the Internet and rewriting a broadcast story to fit a print format. That's editing, not producing.

I love my title "Online Producer" but feel I don't have nearly as much power as a TV producer on KUJH TV.

Allowing citizen journalists will change that in a hurry.

Soon I will be the gatekeeper.
Soon I can accept or reject citizens' stories.
Soon the decisions will go through me and not the TV producers.

Sure, I get a lot more power, but will citizen journalists actually make the news on KUJH TV better?

Of course!

They can go where KUJH TV News reporters can never go: EVERYWHERE!

Journalism isn't a profession anymore, it's a practice. Anyone can do it anywhere. Who benefits? EVERYONE!

The time will come when everyone in the newsroom knows the online producers are more valuable than the TV producers. Online producers will filter the plethora of stories submitted by citizen journalists. I'm surprised this hasn't happened already, considering how the citizen journalist doesn't write the story for the world, but for their own specific communities like these. We can even give them a topic to write about like MSNBC does.

Citizen journalism has already worked for KUJH TV! I was a citizen journalist last year for the KU-MU basketball game. Staci asked me to record comments from students in line at Allen Fieldhouse as well as sounds during the game. I took pictures for my own use, but because of a mix-up with another campus medium, Stacey didn't have any pictures to post.

Never fear. She had the power. She had the power to look at my photos and choose which one she wanted on the site (my pic is used for the last story on the page).

How much longer will it take for the online producers of KUJH TV to have the power?