Dumbing Down America - The Dark Side of Citizen Journalism

On the surface, the rise of the citizen journalism movement fostered by the Internet is a beautiful thing. Since we can't trust the big media corporations to report the news fairly or accurately, without their own agendas, isn't it better to be getting news and information from citizen journalists who are "on the ground" and can report on events as eyewitnesses almost instantly as long as they have an Internet connection? For some news areas, it absolutely is. Citizen journalism is invaluable for things like getting first hand accounts of war, protests, even natural disasters. Never before in history have people had instant access to so much information and the theory goes that the better informed we are, the better the choices we will make, the more politically active we will be, and the more likely we will be to help others once we have related them to on a personal level by reading their stories, seeing their family photos, and forming instant bonds of humanity with them even if they are a half a world away.

But is that really happening? Underneath the shiny veneer of ultimate equality and the idea that people are taking back their own power from megalithic media conglomerates there is a dark side to the citizen journalism movement that could have some very serious effects. Increasingly people are seeing every aspect of culture from politics to foreign policy to everyday occurrences through a tunneled lens that makes them react to things on a personal level instead of seeing larger patterns or the big picture. Because people are more isolated today than ever before, we reach out to people through blogs, social networking sites and other popular online mediums forming instant intimate relationships with strangers. Their stories become our stories, and we bond in sympathy or outrage at the events of our 'instant friends' lives or in shared opinions and histories but we don't examine the bigger forces of culture at work, ask hard questions, or demand any accountability from politicians or from society in general.

Because of the strength of the bonds we form with strangers online and because of anonymity of the Internet people say things online and act in ways that they would never act in polite society. Those actions and words can have serious consequences. Bloggers who normally talk of peace and equality can host racist blogs spouting hate filled rants full of factual errors that someone will believe are real, since many people believe that everything they read on the Internet to be fact. Political bloggers are notorious for viciously attacking any posters who don't agree with them, regardless of political affiliation, and often will post long diatribes with no basis in fact, logic or critical analysis which can influence undecided political voters and could even turn the tide of an election. The instant intimacy and instant gratification of the Internet and the relentless focus on human drama fostered by reality TV has created a cult of media voyeurism and narcissism, where we can log on and be rock stars or political analysts or models or anything else with no thought to the consequences.

But there are consequences. One of the biggest consequences is desensitization. Oh look another story about rape, murder, torture, war, oppression. Another personal tragedy, another appeal to send money or buy something. When we are confronted with real tragedy, with real corruption, that can have a serious impact on "real" life instead of "virtual" life we don't react, don't get involved. Presidential debates? Another 100 soldiers killed in Iraq? Too emotionally tapped to care, people tune it out, and watch American Idol instead.

The Internet is supposed to be the great equalizer, and citizen journalism has been heralded as proof that ordinary people can take back the media from giant corporations and to an extent they have, but look at who those citizens are. Are the Internet users browsing blogs, social networking sites and other pop culture sites to get news and information representative of the society as a whole? No. The idea of having the time, resources and knowledge to go online and get news and information presupposes a level of technical sophistication that many working class and poverty class people in America just don't have. Chances are good that a single mom who works two jobs to support her kids isn't browsing Daily Kos or Salon.com at night to catch up on the latest news from the Beltway or spending a few hours debating the finer points of political theory on a political message board. Chances are good that the 18 year old who has to worry about getting home from school without getting shot or the guy struggling to find a job who can't read or do basic math aren't going to rushing home to post profiles on MySpace or search Monster.com for a job.

While it can be assumed that most people who are citizen journalists come from a particular socio-economic class and have at least a minimum of education that doesn't necessarily qualify them to be journalists. There is more to journalism than just knowing how to string a few sentences together. Just as statecraft, diplomacy, and other political functions of a society require a certain level of skill and education so does journalism. While the guy with a Masters Degree in education waits tables because he can't find a job teaching that pays him enough to live on and writes a funny blog about the experience of dealing with customers all day that doesn't necessarily mean he has the mental capacity or grasp of critical analysis to critique US Foreign Policy, even though he might try. And if he tries and gets it wrong, then everyone who read his blog now has mistaken ideas of the importance of US foreign policy.

Plato said in the Republic that peace comes from embracing social diversity in a society, but citizen journalism can cross the line and become so specialized and so hyper-focused on micro issues that instead of trying to promote diversity it creates isolation and leads to the creation of little niches of people who share beliefs or attitudes or experiences and hunker down in their little online cliques becoming more close-minded than ever before. Also in the Republic Plato warned that democracy carries the danger of excessive freedom, where too many people who are all focused on their own experiences and agendas can divide an entire society. Excessive freedom is a very real danger when it comes to citizen journalism. The very structure of democracy is highly corruptible, and not just at the Presidential level. The citizen journalist with an ax to grind, or issues of inadequacy, can cause serious damage to society.

Citizen journalism definitely is a giant step forward in terms of people being more culturally aware and culturally active, and will no doubt continue to grow in importance and have an even bigger impact on culture and society. But, citizen journalism can also be a catalyst for the dumbing down of culture as well if people don't take the time to educate themselves, use some critical thinking, and continue to blindly accept everything they read in a citizen journalist story, blog, or social networking site as fact. It doesn't require a lot of effort to make yourself a better critical thinker or a more informed citizen.