A manifest on citizen journalism

Citizen journalism is something a lot of people within the media business talk about. Some think of it as a threat in terms of a malstrom of poor content from pure amateurs. Others think of it as an opportunity for redefining the role and relevance of media in society. And some again really don’t care.

No matter the fraction, one thing remains the problem: It’s hard to come by a definition of what ‘citizen journalism’ and media associated with it really is. And as long as that is the case, its hard to have a discussion between the opposing views in an effort to reach a consensus. That needs to change - and I’m part of a small group trying to give input to this change.

Together with Kim Elmose (Politiken), Lars K. Jensen (Ekstra Bladet), Kenneth Ley Milling (UPDATE) and Lisbeth Kjær Larsen (Ekstra Bladet) I have been working on a manifest for citizen journalism. It has resultat in 11 different points, which you can see here (links to Danish site).

The goal behind the manifest has been to kickstart a debate that can lead us towards some serious experiments with citizen journalism. Because we need that as a vital part for media companies to figure out their relevance towards their customers - ordinary people - going forward.

The manifest is not written in stone. It’s more of a process than the finished article. So feel free to comment.