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Era of Citizen Reporters

Unless you’ve been living in oblivion (and haven’t looked at the front page of this publication), you know the big buzz around campus is the video footage captured of Wednesday’s arrest of a student on campus and the reaction it has since received.
New media has changed the way we receive news — and whether this is good or bad, changeable or unchangeable, people need to be aware of it and increase their media literacy.
Today, anyone can be a reporter; they can use their phones to record events and have them uploaded on the Internet in a matter of minutes. While this allows for more “raw” information and immediate reaction, it often removes the context under which the event is taking place.
This is like using the most scandalous part of a quote as the headline of an article, which allows for people to put whatever spin they want on a video (case in point: the “Stop Resisting! Sparta Remix”).

As a result, people are quick to automatically assume beliefs such as “cops are brutal,” instead of considering an idea like “cops kept students safe.” And because accurate information often only comes out later, people have already made ignorant comments and constructed ill-informed opinions about the police. In this case, campus police assert they were trying to do their job properly and these videos may have tainted that image.
New media like this can further let the flood gates of uninformed opinion open to the public through comments and response videos. Without Wednesday’s YouTube video, the news media would have likely received an ordinary press release outlining the arrest,
remaining unaware of the intensity first-hand visuals can offer. As a result of these videos, however, traditional news media reacts in an over-dramatized way to keep people interested.
Still, as much as it would be beneficial for people to wait until they are fully informed to make comments, we cannot go back to the way news used to be provided. The solution to prevent misconstruing events, then, is in the hands of both the media and the individual.
Journalists have to be careful with how they present things. While news is meant to spark interest and reactions, it has to remain fair, balanced and aware of exaggeration.
At the same time, media consumers need to be better equipped and know how to properly read the news. They need to remember to keep context in mind and prevent gushing reactionary opinions.
And while shocking footage can create inflated and unnecessary hype, it can also spark some good conversation on possible real issues — if people let it.

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