Citizen Witnessing

What role can the ordinary citizen perform in news reporting?This question goes to the heart of current debates about citizenjournalism, one of the most challenging issues confronting the newsmedia today.
In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Allan introduces thekey concept of 'citizen witnessing' in order to rethinkfamiliar assumptions underlying traditional distinctions betweenthe 'amateur' and the 'professional'journalist. Particular attention is focused on the spontaneousactions of ordinary people - caught-up in crisis eventstranspiring around them - who feel compelled to participatein the making of news. In bearing witness to what they see, theyengage in unique forms of journalistic activity, generatingfirsthand reportage - eyewitness accounts, video footage,digital photographs, Tweets, blog posts - frequently making avital contribution to news coverage.
Drawing on a wide range of examples to illustrate his argument,Allan considers citizen witnessing as a public service, showing howit can help to reinvigorate journalism's responsibilitieswithin democratic cultures. This book is required reading for allstudents of journalism, digital media and society.