Breaking the News

As told by Marrisa Calligeros, being a journalist isn't always fun. In a journalist's career a time will come when it is necessary to make a 'death knock' in order to create the best news piece possible.

Aided by social media the 'death knock' has been taken a step further.

Through Twitter and Instagram journalists now have the ability to contact a person directly. This is a very valuable tool, but it must be used appropriately. The above instance raises questions about when and when it is not appropriate to try to contact someone through social media. Obviously, this is an example of when tweeting a grieving family is not okay.

However, the journalist looking to get some further information, is to an extent, doing his job. The 'death knock' is something that the journalist probably does not enjoy and would hardly call enjoyable, but in some instances it must be done.

Performing the 'death knock' is something that I never want to do, but eventually (if I do pursue journalism) will most likely have to do. Hopefully I am able to do it in the most respectful and appropriate way possible.

My thoughts on citizen journalism

I have been told about citizen journalism a lot. I remember the first time I got told about citizen journalism in a lecture at uni and thought to myself, then why the hell am I here. As I gained further understanding of what a citizen journalist exactly is, I started to discredit the news that a citizen could produced and did not believe that a tweet or a post was real news. However, I was naive to believe to think that a citizen could not break news and be accredited with the title of a journalist.

This is one of my favourite examples of a citizen journalist breaking news. Abdulkader Hairi was the first person to break the news of US and partner nations launching airstrikes in Syria. Hairi posted several tweets updating and telling events instantly, before any other journalist was able to. 

Hairi is just one example of how citizen journalism is an extremly fast and effective way of spreading news. Questions of accuracy, ethics and authenticity can be raised around citizen journalism, however  it is hard to discredit this form of journalism when news can be told instantly with a first hand perspective.

My mind wasn't changed until I witnessed effective and powerful forms of citizen journalism first hand, but now my eyes have been opened to the power of ones words.