The Rise of Citizen Journalism: Democratization of Information Sharing in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze how the phenomenon of citizen journalism has revolutionized the media and information sharing in Pakistan. This article examines how people through access to digital technologies and social networking sites have become active participants in reporting and sharing news. This paper looks into the antecedents of adoption of citizen journalism from the history and the technological enablers such as smart phones, internet connection, and social media platforms; and in Pakistan. In its turn, the article looks at the potential reasons for the emergence of citizen journalism as well as possible goals as the need for more openness, the possibility of making individuals more responsible for their actions, and attempts to bring the usually overshadowed voices of minorities to the media spotlight. Some examples are highlighted to discuss how citizen journalism affects public perception and raises social justice issues. Some of these cases entail scenarios where the concerned lay photographers and videographers have captured images and videos of corruption, violations of the decision’s rights among other cases that have not been covered or undercovered by the mainstream media. To summarize, the article evaluates the prospects of and restrictions on citizen journalism in Pakistan. These include; credibility, accuracy together with the possibilities of misunderstandings and manipulative intents in conveying the news. Different policies of media regulation and laws about sharing information in Pakistan are discussed, along with constraints and threats to citizen journalism, including censorship, harassment and legal ramifications. In addition, the article seeks to establish how the prior mentioned forms of media complement each other that is citizen journalism and traditional media. It explores how mainstream media sources depend much on user-generated content and social media for news, and how this media type equally feeds and supports the verification and circulation of beneficiaries’ narratives. Since this article forms an information archive on the evolution and implications on the future of the citizen journalism in Pakistan, it will be helpful to all students, media practitioners, policymaker as well as the public at large interested in this emerging field. It underlines the need to create the conditions that will enable the voices of minorities to reach the public mainstream, thereby enhancing democratic vistas of the society.