Comments on: Mayhill Fowler and “citizen journalism”

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By: Maggy Young

Maggy Young — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:00:26 +0000

Seems when everyone can be a journalist it's a lot harder to hide & politicians will have to be more careful, which they won't like.
But how is this so new ? Hasn't it always been possible for someone to 'infiltrate' an occasion & report events to a sympathetic newspaper ? You got the type of news they want to report & it's hot & it's accurate, they'll be reporting on it & not caring that it wasn't a journalist it originally came from.

By: mathewi

mathewi — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:47:19 +0000

I have to agree, Ryan — both examples make me uncomfortable to one degree or another, although the Clinton one less so. And I agree that they didn't exactly uncover the Pentagon papers or anything monumental. At the same time, though, they've got people talking (I hope) about what journalism is — or should be — at least a little bit.

By: gort581

gort581 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:30:32 +0000

I think we're on the right track, with Mayhills out in the crowd covering what the pro-press can't (or won't) cover, but I'm not sure these two examples are really what we want to be holding up as examples of a movement to We Media.

In both cases, the result is very much a "gotcha" sound bite with little-to-no long-term value or importance. Did the first episode frame Obama as someone different than we thought he was? Maybe, maybe not. Did it matter, or will it in the long-term? I doubt it.

Was it hot breaking news that Bill Clinton has a grudge against a reporter or two, and doesn't appreciate getting kicked around in the press? Um, no.

So, just sayin', I'm not exactly proud of Mayhill as some sort of shining example of capital C capital J Citizen Journalism. Seems like both bits of Mayhill Media have served as fodder for cable news first, and topics of valuable conversation a distant second.