Citizen Journalism is becoming a very big issue in many countries.
Citizen Journalism, also known as "
participatory journalism," is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. The intent of this participation of citizens is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires. Citizen journalism should not be confused with
Civic Journalism, which is practiced by professional journalists. Citizen journalism is a specific form of
Citizen Media.
This is a new category of citizens' involvement - everybody reporting on everything in the media.
Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalismIn Germany it is called
Leser-Reporter. All German newspapers have established Leser-Reporter systems both in photos and in writing.. Bild Zeitung has f.ex. developed the system into paying up to 500 € for every printed/online citizen photo.
See BILD's special site:
http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/news/leser-reporter/startseite/leser-reporter.htmlFor the Anglo-Saxon world - see this site:
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/002226.php