The Impact of Citizen Journalism on News Deserts
Open Access
- Author:
- Campos, Jade
- Area of Honors:
- Journalism
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Russell Edgar Eshleman, Jr., Thesis Supervisor
James Ford Risley, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- journalism
news deserts
media
local journalism
reporting - Abstract:
- Many people growing up in the 2000s likely don’t remember a community newspaper being delivered to their homes or neighborhoods every morning. If they do, they can be considered somewhat of a rarity in a modern society that has seen a dwindling of physical newspapers in favor of digital websites. For many people, the internet simply holds more opportunities to find news not just locally but also nationally and internationally, making it much more of a treasured source of news than the limitations of the traditional paper. However, it’s not just the physical papers that are disappearing across the country with the onslaught of the internet, but it’s also the local news outlets themselves — the digital age has made it very difficult for community newspapers to exist. This has created “news deserts” throughout the country where many communities are without a local source of news to keep them in the know about happenings in their areas and their local governments. With this trend growing, many residents have taken it upon themselves to fill the void that has been created with the loss of their local news outlet — whether they have experience in the journalism industry at all. To close, I’ll discuss my own experience working in a media startup created by a person with no background in journalism. Citizen journalism has taken the form of startup websites, newsletters and Facebook groups that are meant to simply share local information — and it could shape up to be the future of local journalism