Get Real, Citizen Journalists

It’s hard to be a citizen journalist. You don’t get paid. You have no idea what you’re doing. You have to keep your iPhone charged so you can tweet breaking news… And, after all that, people don’t even take you seriously.

“Without the training and education that most journalists have, most citizens cannot qualify as journalists,” says Indiana University professor David Weaver, in the Online Journalism Review.

PR president Richard Rohr takes this even further, arguing that journalists’ credibility also depends on the media “brands” they are affiliated with.

“Part of what makes journalists credible, or at least worthy of reading, are institutions that publish or broadcast their reports,” Rohr told OurBlook.

All this creates a catch-22 for “citizen communicators” (Weaver’s term), who write for stand-alone sites like The Rapidian, not offshoots of established news entities. Building The Rapidian brand requires a steady stream of consistent, quality content from citizen writers. But that can be challenging to produce when you’re not taken seriously as a reporter.

Just ask Rapidan writer Lindsay McHolme, whose interview request led to a virtual flogging early last month by Super Happy Fun Time Burlesque front man Corey Ruffin.

McHolme initially contacted Ruffin about her op-ed response to an SHFT ad that contained the line: “the girls’ clavicles are showing from starvation”. The 30-year-old literacy coordinator felt the verbiage undercut performers’ value and demonstrated “ignorance about starvation and poverty”—a grim reality for many of the refugee families she works with.

Unlike the 2008 Grand Rapids Press blog that led to a cancelled SHFT show, McHolme’s op-ed would not have resulted in material loss for the burlesque. And yet, Ruffin’s reply to McHolme, which she shared with this reporter, entirely lacked the civility (not to mention cogency) of SHFT’s official response to Press reporter John Gonzales.

“I am astonished you would feel ready to print an opinion article under the auspices of a ‘citizen journalist’ with such limited background with our show,” begins the multi-part retort.

“How many times have you said ‘I’m starving’…?” Ruffin’s next e-mail continued. “Next time you do I’m gonna show up with an anorexic and play her rib cage like it’s a marimba…. Go to f---ing Cambodia and feed the f---ing Cambodian slave boys your breast milk, and then I’ll take your statements a little more seriously.”

After deriding McHolme’s journalistic qualifications and person over three e-mails, Ruffin annotated the exchange, then posted it in its entirety on a Facebook page visible to more than 700 friends.

Identity Crisis
Of course, McHolme isn’t the only citizen writer to encounter resistance from potential sources. But her extreme example demonstrates just how differently some view citizen journalists and paid reporters.

“I feel that the public, on occasion, tends to hold us to a lower standard… [and doesn’t] want to be involved in our stories,” says Michael Tuffelmire, 29, another Rapidian writer. “This is true “about 35 to 40 percent of the time.”

Even when people do agree to be interviewed, they don’t always have journalism in mind. Tuffelmire recalls one source, a local business owner, whose main interest was free advertising.

“The owner didn’t want me to talk about anything at all with his business practices, even though they were extremely positive,” says Tuffelmire. “He just wanted me to be a large advertisement for his product.”

The underlying issue here seems to be a crisis of perception—one that starts with “real” journalism and trickles down to citizen journalism, a relative newcomer to the field.

“Journalism is so broad now,” says Rapid Growth Media editor Juliet Bennett Rylah. “It’s hard to say how the public perceives a ‘real’ journalist.”

Traditional journalism’s painful attempts to reinvent itself into something both relevant and lucrative in the digital age have generated myriad platforms for delivering and engaging news content. They’ve also created a lot of confusion about what journalism actually is.

Against the backdrop of this perplexing journalistic landscape, how can a citizen reporter ever hope to be taken seriously?

Well, for one thing, we can start by taking ourselves more seriously.

“I think that citizen reporters should not look at themselves as less than full blown reporters,” says Tuffelmire, who has “no training whatsoever as a journalist.”

Tuffelmire says he works closely with his Rapidian mentor on developing stories, and he actively reflects on and learns from past mistakes. He also had business cards printed up.

Citizen writers can also benefit immensely from online resources like those offered by the Rapidian and groups like Poynter and the International Center for Journalists. The Magazine Writer’s Handbook is another great resource for learning how to conduct interviews, write a strong lede, and structure stories.

If nothing else, citizen reporters must learn to avoid bias. It’s a huge credibility-killer and, I think, the main reason people relegate us to blogger status.

“When you write your opinions as a citizen journalist, and not just as a Facebook status, logic should be your guide,” advises Rylah. “If emotion is your guide, you need to be writing poetry.”

“You have to understand both sides of a story,” she continues. “Neutrality can be achieved by letting other people speak for you via quotes.”

Even in op-ed writing, Rylah suggests intentional word choice, avoiding superlatives, and paying attention to tense.

“Is all this in the past tense, because if so, you’re probably applying blame and toeing the line between a well-stated op-ed and whining,” says Rylah. “When you look to the future, that shows an interest in problem solving.”

Growing Pains
The community at large can also help improve the quality of citizen reporting by providing constructive feedback.

The Rapidian site was intentionally designed to facilitate dialogue between writers and readers via comments and “voting up”. Citizen journalists serious about improving their work will view criticism as a learning opportunity.

Sources can help cultivate local writers, too, by treating them the same way they would treat “real” journalists.

If you think a writer is taking the wrong approach, suggest an alternative. Feel like a writer approached you in an unprofessional way? Tell them, or contact Rapidian staff, who can coach them in that area. If a citizen reporter is entirely beyond redemption, simply decline comment.

Finally, I want to encourage Rapidian staff in their (already laudable) efforts to define the Rapidian brand and curate our community multilogue—responsibilities that promise to get harder over time.

In order for The Rapidian to progress from experiment to credible news source, hard questions will need to be answered: Are The Rapidian’s defining values changing as it matures? Does hyperlocality have the same resonance post-pilot, or would including other regional voices diversify and broaden the conversation? Coming full circle, is the Rapidian viable (read, “fundable”) in its current incarnation, and how might new revenue streams impact its values? Stay tuned…

As The Rapidian grows up, I’m hoping the site’s reporters can mature with it. While I definitely think readers and The Rapidian both have roles to play, I believe the onus is on writers to make citizen journalism “real” journalism by training themselves, exhibiting professionalism, and continuously improving their craft.