Reporting Stories in News Deserts and Luring People Out of Their Echo Chambers
Citizen journalists are entering the vortex of news deserts and echo chambers to report and disseminate news. Hopefully, they can fill a yawing information void and in the process restore some level of trust in journalism.
Reporting through websites, blogs and social media, non-professional citizen journalists report stories that aren’t covered by traditional media or bring a fresh approach to a complex topic that doesn’t fit into shrinking contours of daily news outlets.
Citizen journalists may try to fill is the void caused by newspaper and radio station closures, especially in small communities. Since 2005, more than 3,200 newspapers in America have closed or merged. The closure rate now averages more than two per week.
Owning a newspaper was never a ticket to riches. Newspapers in small towns stayed afloat because of local grocery store ads, which now have gone digital. The internet also has become a favorite placement for lucrative classified advertising. One researcher estimated Craigslist sucked $5.4 billion of classified ad revenue out of newspapers between 2000 and 2007.
Network News and Daily Newspaper Correlation
There used to be a correlation between watching network news and reading daily newspapers. The splintering of broadcast media and the advent of streaming services have broken that bond. Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha who sold all his newspaper interests in 2020, said, “If cable and satellite broadcasting, as well as the Internet, had come along first, newspapers as we know them probably would never have existed.”
Newspapers recorded the steepest job losses – down 77 percent over two decades – than any industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Overstretched journalists still on the job are beginning to welcome help from community members to identify stories and even report them.
Andrew Conte, who founded the Center for Media Innovation, observes, “Amid this drastic transformation, citizens are assuming greater control over local news even in places where traditional outlets remain. They are discovering information and deciding what pieces are worth sharing with the people in their networks, filling a role called ‘citizen gatekeeping.’”
They do this reportorial “work” across platforms ranging from informal conversations to social media sites to collaborations with traditional media to their own independent news sites, Conte says.
Citizen journalism isn’t unprecedented. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver launched YourHub in 2005 with 39 online editions connected to local communities that relied on citizen reporting. The newspaper folded in 2009 but YourHub was continued by The Denver Post.
The Huffington Post experimented with citizen journalism, providing “citizen journalism publishing standards” such as “stick to the facts” and “avoid hearsay”. More than 100,000 citizen journalists participated. The program’s popularity became its downfall. It was shut down with this epithet, “When everyone has a megaphone, no one can be heard.”
Pro Publica has advertised for citizen journalists to assist on its investigative reporting. The publication said, “Members of the network will work virtually alongside of ProPublica’s news team to gather information, pursue leads and find sources.”
The first assignment was to follow projects meticulously that were funded by federal stimulus dollars. “This is precisely the kind of nitty-gritty investigative work that will reveal some surprising facts, but takes time and patience to do well,” Pro Publica said.
Citizen Journalists Have Tools
Current-day citizen journalists aren’t unarmed. Smartphones provide a tool to record live audio and video content that can be the basis for news reporting or lead generation to reporters. For smaller communities, this isn’t a radical departure since professional staff members often come from the community.
When the number of reporters is slimmed down, there isn’t enough bandwidth to cover all the “beats” in a community such as the police log, local government activities, school issues, natural disasters and social events. Citizen journalists can fill in the gaps and on some stories team with staff reporters to provide coverage.
Seeing bylines and story credit given to local citizen journalists could boost community confidence in reporting and create a backdoor for citizens to suggest story ideas to fellow citizens.
The lack of journalistic polish by citizen journalists is offset by their proximity to their neighbors who can be news subjects and news sources.
Citizen Journalism in Oregon
The Oregon Journalism Project (OJP) is a nonprofit investigative newsroom launched in 2024 to “inform citizens, safeguard democratic institutions and give communities a voice.”
OJP produces stories focusing on state and local government, as well as the federal government’s impact on Oregon. Its stories are published online and in print. OJP also collaborates with independent newspapers and publishers across the state.
The Agora Journalism Center, affiliated with the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, seeks to strengthen the state’s information landscape, by creating and sharing research, case studies and tool kits to assist citizen journalists and promote media literacy.
Illustration Credit: Rose Wong for NBC News
Citizen Journalism and Trust
It’s too big a burden to hope citizen journalism can restore trust in the news media or suck people out of their “news bubbles”. It is reasonable to hope citizen journalism, especially when teamed with professional journalistic guidance, can fill growing gaps in the media landscape and break down prejudices about journalism in general.
There needs to be a middle ground between The New York Times and Fox News. Citizen journalists may help the nation find it.
