Can you find any examples where "citizen journalists" have failed miserably to report accurate news? And if you do find examples (you should), does this make the concept of amateur journalism a bad thing? Why or why not?
One example took place back in 1938 when Orson Welles made a broadcast claiming that there was going to be an alien invasion. The result was a nationwide panic as thousands of Americans fled from what they thought was a pending attack; while others armed themselves in defense against the extraterrestrials. Orson Welles was by no means a professional journalist when we made the inaccurate broadcast, but the impact of it was so huge that people still talk about it today - over 70 years later.
Something as huge as this does make amateur journalism appear as a bad thing. Not only did Welles have a great deal of the country believing his falsification, but he had people fearing for their lives. Some amateur journalism may not be a bad thing, but before posting an type of information, a person must be 100% positive that it is correct because even though they aren’t unleashing a wave of panic throughout the nation like Welles did, they have the potential to stir up some kind of unfavorable attention.
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I hadn't heard the story of Mr. Welles. Good research.
ReplyDeleteWhat ought we do to keep folks in check? Sue over falsifications? That's probably already been tried, but you've got to have a lawyer. :-)