Participatory - or citizen - journalism was addressed in week five's tutorial. The task for this session was to browse any number of news websites, locate and read articles and then comment on them. This was to demonstrate participatory journalism. This is the article I read and on which I commented.
The remaining discussion time was dedicated to the issue of deciding how to define journalism and journalists themselves. Is commenting on an article considered to be journalism? What makes you a journalist? One member of the class suggested that to be a journalist you must be paid for your work. The tutor, TinaBettels, contested that idea by explaining her unpaid work as a freelance journalist for an interstate newspaper. My group suggested that a person be given the title of journalist after having attained recognised qualifications.
