The Benefits and Downsides of a Citizen Journalism Approach in Teaching (Everybody Loves a Good Pros/Cons List)

 

What is Citizen Journalism?

Citizen Journalism is the idea that people should play an active role in reporting and analyzing the news in their community and nationally. It encourages independent thinking and the collection of evidence as well as an unbiased analysis of evidence. The popular fictional character of Nancy Drew would be a good example of a citizen journalist as someone who frequently is active in her community by collecting and distributing news stories as well as deciphering key information. 

What Does it Mean for Students?

Using citizen journalism in the classroom involves teaching students media literacy and the ability to understand the role of perspective or bias in influencing the content they read. A student should be able to read a modern news article or even one from the 1940's and read between the lines to understand what would motivate the author to make whatever argument they are making. 

Once students have grasped this they can then create their own content that allows them take ownership in the citizen journalism process and express their voices which creates a positive feedback cycle that improves their critical thinking. However every teaching strategy has it's pros and cons and it is important to consider those when thinking about using citizen journalism in the classroom.

Pros and Cons of Having Students Learn Citizen Journalism

Pros

• Students generally perform well when they are actively engaged in the process of learning and through the using citizen journalism they are engaged in every step as they choose their own topics and conduct their research on projects that they are allowed to design 

• Students are taught how to look for bias and different perspectives in media as well how to analyze different types of media that include text, audio, and visual mediums

• The process of collecting, analyzing, and distributing information present in citizen journalism helps the development of critical thinking skills in students that are not only important in the classroom but in life as well

Cons

• The positives of a teaching strategy can also be it's negatives and the student led approach of citizen journalism can possibly lead to an unfocused approach from the student if they decide to investigate less educational topics or pursue their projects in a unfocused manner 

• Even the most experienced of journalists have on occasion accidentally spread misinformation and students with even less experience might be susceptible to this particularly when conducting their own research

Pros and Cons of Using a Citizen Journalism Approach in the Classroom 

Pros 

• High student engagement through using citizen journalism leads to a more productive classroom where students are performing better academically but are also having fun with learning 

• Through working together on research and their projects students can learn more from each other and gain a deeper understanding that helps strengthen a classroom bond 

• The increased emphasis on critical reading and thinking skills present in a citizen journalism approach helps create students who can read more advanced material and perform better in other aspects of the classroom like testing or writing 

Cons

• Time is one thing a teacher always has in short supply and unfortunately the citizen journalism approach does take up a substantial time investment as it often involves projects with periods of research that could take days where students must collect and disseminate information 

• If the right parameters are not set by the teacher the students might delve into topics that are highly controversial and it may cause issues with other students if not handled properly thus disrupting the atmosphere of the classroom or even causing problems with parents

So How Would I Use It?

Well if you couldn't tell from the pros and cons lists above that despite some of the drawbacks in using a citizen journalism approach in the classroom I think it is a highly useful strategy that engages students and teaches them important skills that will help them even years later as an informed consumer of news. The question of where exactly to use it in a classroom however is a good one as citizen journalism works bests when used in a way that intrigues and engages the students but also avoids unnecessary controversy. 

Students should not be expected to find solutions for or try to deal with large current societal problems that don't have easy answers as this often only causes disagreements between students and instead they should focus on issues that have direct solutions. One example that could be used in a government class is having students investigate why there is so much trash in their local downtown and what the local government or organizations could do to fix it. 

The citizen journalism approach can even work towards history lessons as students can investigate parts of history and read several primary source documents with conflicting views. A unit on the Cold War could use this approach as students investigate sources from different perspectives on the domino theory and come up with their own ideas on how the US and Soviet Union could have reduced tensions and which ideas turned out to be right. 

It can be somewhat of a nerve wracking strategy for teachers to implement and particularly for newer teachers or those concerned about angry parents but a citizen journalism approach could be used in the classroom to great effect as long as teachers keep in mind the pros and cons of the strategy.