Citizen Journalism Failure?

There was a false report that Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack (seriously? We all know he’s too skinny. Let’s give the “health rumours” a rest until we actually hear something official, eh?) on CNN’s citizen journalism site, iReport.

The tagline for the site is “Unedited. Unfiltered. News”, but as Sarah Perez from Read Write Web points out, it’s really damn easy to become a “citizen journalist” on iReport:

Apparently, it’s as easy to become a citizen journalist on CNN as it is to sign up for a new web app from an internet startup, if not easier. The process involves nothing more than filling out a name, screen name, and email address. Adding a phone number is optional and only necessary if you want the story to be considered by CNN. There’s a CAPTCHA to prevent bots and an email confirmation link, but thanks to disposable email addresses, those are practically a waste of time these days. [source]

Scott Karp from Publishing 2.0 points out that iReport is an open system, and that’s the main problem.

“Citizens” — people who are not professional journalists — can use a platform like iReport to legitimately report news.

The problem is — and this is something that advocates of citizen journalism typically overlook — that if a platform is open, and anyone can participate, that means not only can well-intentioned citizens participate but so can bad actors, spammers, liars, cheats, and thieves. [source]

My big problem isn’t with the fact that iReport is apparently an Open System that everyone and anyone can join. My problem is the fact that those of us who have been trained as journalists (ok, so full disclosure: I have a PR diploma, but at least one half of that diploma was journalism training) and adhere to journalistic standards, including fact checking,  and who do happen to blog as well as write for other publications, get painted with the same “citizen journalist” brush. Even “blogging” gets frowned on still, despite the fact that it’s becoming a serious force in the publishing world.

I don’t know if I really have an actual conclusion for this. I don’t know what else to say, other than to point out the, apparent to me, difference between those of us who write for a living and the “citizen journlists” who post fake Steve Jobs health scares.

How do you classify a “citizen journalist”? Are bloggers like me painted with that same brush for you? How and where do you draw the line?

Edited to add: Scott updated his post with the following idea, which I think is brilliant, and which I’ll be touching on more shortly.

Here’s an idea for news orgs — publish a how to video or screencast that teaches people in your community how to set up their own blog and report. And tell them that if they do good work, you’ll link to them and send them traffic. And guess what — they’ll link back to you. That’s the way the web works. That’s the beauty of the web.