Citizen Journalism

In the summer before my senior year, I was published in The Oregonian.

Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s fun to say it that way. It sounds like something out of a “two truths and a lie” game.

What I’m really referring to is my experience at the High School Journalism Institute (HSJI). HSJI partners with Oregon State University to “provide a unique opportunity for students to get hands-on journalism experience. The eight-day summer program takes place on OSU’s Corvallis campus, where students live in residence halls, work with journalism professionals from The Oregonian/OregonLive and other local media outlets, and use Orange Media Network’s state-of-the-art facilities.”The goal? (According to their Facebook account) To promote diversity in the newsrooms of the future. 

Before HSJI, though, I stumbled into journalism by accident. I joined my high school newspaper, The Bronco Blaze, during my sophomore year simply because I needed to fill an empty elective slot. What started as a schedule-filler quickly turned into something much more meaningful. That class taught me how to gather information, edit my writing, and most importantly, consider my audience. For the first time, writing wasn’t just a task to complete; it became a way to communicate ideas that mattered.

That unexpected elective changed how I saw the world and my role in it.

While my experience with The Bronco Blaze and HSJI leaned toward traditional journalism and even hinted at a possible professional path, what stuck with me most was the power and potential of citizen journalism.

Unlike traditional journalism, citizen journalism isn’t typically practiced by people with formal training. Instead, it’s often done by everyday individuals, citizens, who report on issues that matter to them. This distance from institutional media is part of its appeal. Many people turn to citizen journalism because they view traditional outlets as biased, out of touch, or narrowly focused. Citizen journalism, by contrast, is often seen as much more timely, grounded, and connected to real issues in real communities (Hughes, 2011). 

In an era of social media, livestreams, and instant uploads, citizen journalism plays a much larger role than we often give it credit for. So what are its pros and cons, especially when we think about using it in a social studies classroom?

Let’s start with the cons, because I always pick bad news first when someone gives me the option.

The rise of social media has also brought with it the rapid spread of misinformation, sensationalism, and biased “fake news.” It raises that age-old question: Who gets to tell the story? But also: Which stories get told? Which ones go viral? And which ones are left in the shadows?

Still, the pros of citizen journalism are as varied, and exciting, as the seasonal flavors at Salt & Straw. The pros are the following but not limited to: civic engagement, media literacy, critical thinking, research using primary sources (for some…), and the development of student voice and identity! Read that again if all those pro’s didn’t hit you like a ton of bricks. Citizen journalism is a wide-open highway for amplifying diverse perspectives and empowering young people to actively participate in the world around them.

Looking back now, I see that discovering I had a voice, one that people might actually listen to, changed everything. It expanded what I thought was possible for myself. As a first-generation college student, it reignited hope. I started to dream a little bigger, to imagine a future where I wasn’t just surviving school but using my voice to shape conversations, tell untold stories, and maybe even help others find their own voice too.

That unexpected elective changed how I saw the world and my role in it.

References: Hughes, Wally."Citizen Journalism: Historical Roots and Contemporary Challenges" (2011).Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 305. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/305