Reframing risk? Citizen journalism and the transformation of news

Abstract

Western media outlets are increasingly drawing upon public footage and citizen accounts of risk incidents. Contemporaneously, technological advances have enabled members of the public to create and disseminate independent media products. The growth in 'citizen journalism' has been facilitated by technological convergence and the development of an interactive media environment in which citizens are not simply sources of information and/or audiences, but also recorders and creators of news. Despite fundamental changes in news production, the impact of citizen journalism on the reporting of risk remains an undeveloped area. This article maps out the range of effects that citizen journalism has on the production and presentation of risk information. From a constructive angle, we consider the extent to which citizen journalism adds to the plurality of risk discourses, democratises news flows and sets alternate news values. This positive account is counterbalanced by an analysis of the limits of citizen journalism, including the problem of distortion, issues of unequal access and the embedding of populist forms of news presentation. In the light of this analysis, the article concludes by illuminating salient research gaps and identifying areas ripe for empirical investigation.