JOURNALISTS’ PERCEPTION OF THE CREDIBILITY OF CITIZEN JOURNALISM ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

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ABSTRACT

This study focused on journalists’ perception of the credibility of citizen journalism on social media platforms. The population of the study consisted of 308 registered journalists in Uyo. The purposive sampling method was used to select 174 registered journalists as the sample. Data were gathered using the questionnaire from 174 respondents. However, 164 copies were completed and returned valid for the study. The objectives of the study were to: examine how citizen journalism has affected journalists and their profession; highlight the possible threats the credibility of citizen journalism pose to journalism practice; find out how professional journalists perceive the credibility of citizen journalism and to find out why credibility is a major issue in citizen journalism. Findings from the study reveal that citizen journalism lacked credibility and professional journalists felt this fact was enough reason for citizen journalists not to assume their jobs. The researcher recommended that citizen journalists must be guided to follow ethics of journalism if they must disseminate information on social media platforms.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1.1        Background to the Study

The advent of the new media (internet) has given anyone and everyone the power and right to disseminate news to the rest of the world. Through the User Generated Content (UGC) which is internet-driven, user-generated source of information known as citizen journalism has become a recent catchphrase, sending waves of worry throughout the mainstream media. Citizens have stepped, or rather charged, into the news and information realm and are doing quite a good job attracting an absurd amount of attention from the public.

Usually, people without training, expertise or academic knowledge of news gathering and dissemination are not allowed to become journalists in the mainstream media. The internet has changed all that, people without qualification have become newsmen/women  as long as they have their smartphones and computers in their hands and internet connection, they use these tools of advanced technology to send news across the world ( anyone in the world can access the information they send). Jenkins, 2006) and threatening to undermine the gatekeeping function so central to the professional purpose of the press.

Credibility online has become an important topic since the emergence of the internet. This is because the web has increasingly become an information resource. According to Wikipedia, Potential false news reports are just one of the many possible ramifications of sourcing news from anonymous sources. The news could be factually correct, but have flaws like blatant disregard of ethics, lack of objectivity, impartiality and balance. It could also be a hidden agenda or opinion sugarcoated as fact or a libelous or defamatory statement that puts subjects in the story in bad light. In mainstream media, a process of verification and checks called gate-keeping can weed out any such inaccuracies and biases. Gate keeping, so its called, is done by experienced and trained journalists and editors, using tools and skills like knowledge of the law and in house or commercial stylebooks such as the Associated Press, this helps to strengthen the credibility of the source of such news report.

There are three aspects of credibility: clarity (how easily the article can be understood), accuracy (how well documented the information is), and trustworthiness (how believable the information is).Credibility is very  necessary  in the effectiveness of  reporting news, professional or otherwise. Mainstream news media networks spend time and effort building their credibility and use it every day when they report news.  Credibility is important to journalists because, as disseminators and interpreters of news, they need to maintain a trustworthy relationship with their audience. However, because of the nature of citizen journalism, credibility is not really checked and valued by citizen journalists, their major aim is just to disseminate information about events online as speedily as possible, most citizen journalists don’t bother to check how truthful or factual their reports are unlike professional journalists. Professional journalists have been held accountable for their work. They traditionally have the responsibility to use moral reasoning when creating a story, abide by their respective news organizations ethical standards, and always seek and share truth when reporting. Brown (2005) noted that the work of a professional journalist is only published after it goes through the checks-and-balances process, whereas the common citizen journalist receives no such editorial advice and does not have the expertise to safeguard the credibility of the information. One of the major concerns professional journalists and news consumers have with citizen journalism is that citizen journalists overlook the importance of the checks-and-balances process and this neglect has the potential to lead to biased and inaccurate information.

Perception on the other hand entails one’s feelings and thought about an issue, situation and behaviour. People perceive things differently, For instance a person might perceive  keeping dreadlocks as  something irresponsible people will do while another  person might perceive it as a fashion trend. Perception is actually triggered by ones value and beliefs, in the sense that a person might perceive  something or a situation negatively if that situation fails to comply with the person’s values or beliefs.

Journalists’ perception in this study is centered on how and what professional journalists think and feel about this issue of the credibility of citizen journalism. Most professional journalists might feel  with citizen journalism it gets more difficult for the public to decide what to believe. With traditional journalism, it is safe to assume for a long time that the information is factual, checked and re-checked for accuracy .But in the case of citizen journalism, anyone can write or record anything and present it as fact leaving the audience to  serve in the capacity of editor ( Porter, 2009).

This study is important in finding out how journalists really perceive the credibility of citizen journalists on social media platforms.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Since the internet has given rise to a new form of journalism called citizen journalism, professional journalists in the traditional media have been shaken by the fact that they are not the only ones who are sought after for news. The professionals are concerned with the fact that user generated contents might not be credible enough and pose some threats to traditional journalism as a whole.

Professional journalists may also fear that information put out on the internet by citizen journalists are inaccurate, contain wrong statistics and are opinionated rather than factual, most times, details of an event on social media platforms are quite different from what is presented on the mainstream media which will further lead professional journalists to questioning the credibility of citizen journalism.

Professional journalists are concerned that attention has been diverted from them who are academically qualified and legally recognized as journalists to citizen journalists who most times miss the proper elements and reason for reporting. Likening this case to that of a certified Medical doctor and a roadside herb man, the medical doctor feels concerned when local herbs are being administered to patients without proper diagnosis and drug prescription. The same applies to how professional journalists might feel about the credibility of citizen journalism. While the medical doctor fears that the herbs might be inactive or cause more harm than heal the patient, Professional journalists might fear news reporting will be mal-handled and that citizen journalists might fail to report factual and credible news events. The problem of this study lies in the fact that credibility is a major issue in citizen journalism and professional journalists might not have a good perception about it, which will therefore affect their attitude towards citizen journalism.

This study will therefore examine journalist’s perception of the credibility of citizen journalism on social media platforms.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

     This study has the following specific research objectives:

i.                    To examine how citizen journalism has affected journalists and their profession

ii.                  To highlight the possible threats the credibility of citizen journalism pose to journalism practice.

iii.                To find out how professional journalists perceive the credibility of citizen journalism

iv.                To find out why credibility is a major issue in citizen journalism.

1.4       Research Questions

i.                     How has citizen journalism affected professional journalists and their profession?

ii.                     What threats do the credibility of citizen journalism present to journalism practice?

iii.                        How do journalists of the mainstream media perceive citizen journalism,

iv.                  Why is credibility a major issue in citizen journalism?

1.5       Justification for the Study

Most centrally, this study points to a possible future beyond the repetitive traditonal journalism vs citizen journalism wars which continue to plague journalism practice as well as journalism studies. This research has made important contributions by explaining the concept of credibility it’s connection to citizen journalism and how it as affected professional journalists and their profession.

This study will enlighten both traditional journalists and citizen journalists on the basic issues of citizen journalism that threaten journalists and the journalism profession as a whole and how journalists perceive the credibility of citizen journalism. The  findings of this research will be useful to students of communication studies, researchers, journalists, citizen journalists and social media users at large.

 1.6       Delimitations of the Study

This study focuses on registered journalists in Uyo and did not involve “all journalists” also, the study involved  journalists from major media houses in Uyo The Pioneer, The Censor and The Pulse Newspapers representing the Print media, Nigerian Television Authority (N.T.A) , Akwaibom Broadcasting Corporation ( A.K.B.C) and Planet FM representing the Broadcast media. The study also focused on Journalists who are in charge of news and information gathering and dissemination and not those in the programmes unit.

1.7        Limitations of the Study

In the course of data gathering, the researcher had problems having access to the select media houses as they operate strict security, 174 questionnaires were issued but 2 not returned and 5  invalid. However, a letter and a document of Identification was presented to all the media houses and the researcher was able to meet the journalists through their news managers, the number of questionnaires returned (164) was used to analyse data.

1.8       Operational Definition of Terms

Journalists: They are people who collect, write, or distribute news or other current information to the public. journalists can work with general issues or specialize in certain issues.

Perception: This entails the way a person or a group of people think about something, in the case of this study it entails what journalists think about citizen journalism.

Journalists’ Perception: It is the conception and thought that journalists have towards issues especially that which relates to their profession.

Credibility: This is the quality of being trusted and believed by another person or  a group of people apart from yourself.

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