Sofia Ariza

JRN 406

Robert Osborne

April 12, 2021

Essay Question Choice

Discuss the role of journalists and the balance between traditional journalistic standards and spin

related content, and the subsequent impacts this can have in shaping public opinion and society

as a whole. 

How Traditional Journalism Prevents Spin Related Content Created By Citizen

Journalists From Shaping Societal Views

The craft of journalism is one in itself, but there are two types of journalism; citizen and

traditional journalism. As stated by researcher Corinne Barnes, “Peter Dooley suggests that,

traditional journalism is the outside looking in. Citizen journalism is the inside looking out. In

order to get the complete story, it helps to have both points of view. Dooley's argument suggests

that there is a place for this emerging phenomenon called citizen journalism, as well as for the

profession that has been practised for decades called mainstream or traditional

journalism,”(Barnes, 2012). Though both types of journalism are useful and necessary, it often

occurs that citizen journalism helps to promote spin related content because of the way it is

conducted, such as the commonly occurring fake news and public relations stunts of the 21st
century, especially with the wide range use of social media and the access that anyone in the

world has to publish false news stories. Children absorb the words they hear until they slowly

attain their full vocabulary when they reach a certain age. Same goes for societal values; the

news and propaganda that people see and hear on a daily basis are absorbed by their brains,

which plants seeds from which new ideas flourish and influences the way that people think and

view the world around them. The spread of spin related content is prevented by traditional

journalism by conducting journalism in an ethical and responsible manner, while on the other

hand, citizen journalism promotes spin related content by careless and unethical reporting, and

shapes societal views in a negative way.

As Barnes states, "The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional

or formal training in journalism have an opportunity to use the tools of modern technology and

the almost limitless reach of the Internet in order to create content that would otherwise not be

revealed, as this kind of journalism goes far beyond the reach of professional

journalism,”(Barnes, 2012). Even in some of the poorest countries in the world, people have

access to technology and with that comes access to social media. Nowadays anyone can take a

photo or video and publish it for thousands, even millions of people to see. This is often the

cause of misinformation and spin related content; a person posts a fake story or incident they

recorded or made which becomes viral, and the public believes it and accept it as truth, and in

result they share it until it becomes a chain reaction that reaches the mainstream media

connecting the story to millions of people. In the 21st century world, as Ryan Holiday says, “Do

nothing—you can still turn it into something. Do something wrong, don’t despair; you can spin it

beyond comprehension,” (Holiday, 2012, pp. 253). In this quote from his book “Trust Me I’m
Lying,” Holiday explains in simple words the citizen journalism of today, in which people can

turn something as small as a cat chasing a cheetah into a viral story, and if the video is fake, it

can be twisted and discussed in the web so much that people no longer comprehend whether it’s

real or fake therefore they choose to accept it as real because humans often believe what they

wish was real, even when it’s not. As researcher Jithender J. Timothy explained, “Depending on

this uncertainty, individuals tend to accept or avoid opinions that confirm or contradict their

respective preconceived opinions.” (Timothy, 2017). However, It isn’t always a fake video of a

cat chasing a cheetah or a chimpanzee with an AK-47 that is published for millions of people to

see, it’s sometimes fake news articles insisting that governments are vaccinating people in order

to track their locations and control their brains. The damage and panic that these citizen

journalists cause by creating these false and spin related stories result in something as grave as

people refusing to get vaccinated because of the fake story that they believed to be true. Take for

instance the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, in which as researchers Hunt Allcott and Matthew

Gentzkow found that, “The average American saw and remembered 0.92 pro-Trump fake news

stories and 0.23 pro-Clinton fake news stories, with just over half of those who recalled seeing

fake news stories believing them; for fake news to have changed the outcome of the election, a

single fake article would need to have had the same persuasive effect as 36 television campaign

ads,” (Allcott & Matthew, 2017). This explains the fact that a single fake news story has the

power to change the results of something as important as a presidential election, which in turn

proves that the fake and spin related content that people believe in, ultimately shapes the way

they think and influences their decision making. The creators of spin related content aren’t

always citizen journalists, they can also be owners of companies or independent workers such as

artists who create spin related content in order to attain the attention of the public, and ultimately
their money. An example would be the Derbyshire Fairy Hoax which went viral online when

artist Dan Baines posted an image online of the body of a ‘fairy,’ which thousands of people

believed to be true and even BBC published the story because of the rage it caused when it

turned out to be a sculpture made by the artist in order to attract attention and promote his work.

As Timothy explained, “An individual or groups of individuals can be targeted with a certain

propaganda to specifically influence their opinions to satisfy a certain monetary or an ideological

objective,” (Timothy, 2012). The goal of the spinner who in this case was Baines, was to grow as

an artist and attract attention and potential customers, which he clearly did because of the

outstanding sculpture he created. People like artists or musicians, who thrive off of public

attention have often been caught in incidents where they create spin related content for the sole

reason of gaining attention.

As Barnes explains the definition of a traditional journalist, “Coined by University of the

West Indies lecturer Patrick Pendergast, underscores the importance of training in journalism: "A

journalist is defined as a trained professional who, in the defence, protection and advancement of

the public's interest, uses media and communication platforms to pursue and report what is true

with fairness, balance and accuracy and always in recognition of the principles, values and ethics

of the profession of journalism,” (Barnes, 2012). Trained journalists work for the public’s right

to know the truth, in other words they work for the people, even though some people don’t

believe or appreciate the work traditional journalists do. Not to say that some citizen journalists

don’t have the same intentions, but the majority of the time they post stories for the views,

money, and attention, without taking into consideration whether it’s ethical or not to post fake

stories and spin related content that tricks people. Barnes explains that, “When it comes to issues
of ethics, those who are untrained are unable to understand that there must be certain guidelines

to which news dissemination must adhere and certain principles that must not be compromised,”

(Barnes, 2012). When traditional journalists are covering a story, they will go above and beyond

to fact check every detail before they publish the story for the world to see, in order to protect the

subjects of the story, their own credibility as journalists, the company they work for, and most

importantly, the right that people have to know the truth. For example, now with the present

COVID-19 pandemic, there are hundreds of news articles in which journalists debunk fake

COVID-19 news in order to help the public and prevent people from falling for misinformation,

such as fake articles stating that drinking bleach can cure you from COVID-19. While it may

sound irrational to most people, unfortunately there is always someone that bites the dust. In a

recent USC Annenberg Media, journalists Alexis Francel, Anthony Gharib, Dustin Hochmuth,

Enzo Luna, Himani Pangal, and Jolene Pumphrey debunked myths that people fell for because

they trusted them to be legit news. This includes fake stories stating that the vaccine causes

infertility, alters human DNA and contains tracker chips. The journalists worked together to fact

check the information and prove it to be false, which is essentially what traditional journalists do,

they find a story, fact check it and if it’s true they publish it and if not, they discard it or publish

it as a debunk/fact check article. As Barnes explains, “Only a trained journalist understands the

level of fact-checking that is required before a news article can be published as factual,” (Barnes,

2012).

The arguments presented above can also be contradicted because not all citizen

journalism is fake news or spin, and not all traditional journalism meets the ethical and truthful

guidelines that journalism stands for. There have been countless cases where citizen journalism

served to inform the public on important matters, or helped mainstream journalists to complete
and verify an important story. Such is the case of the murder of George Floyd, an African

American man who was murdered by a police officer after the officer pressed down on Floyd’s

neck using his knee. If it hadn’t been for citizen journalists who don’t realize that they were

committing journalism by recording the incident and posting it on their social media as it was

happening, the news story would have had a different outcome due to the prejudice and bias that

the black community faces when they’re being presented on the news. An example of this

prejudice and bias is present when white people who commit grave crimes such as mass murder

are excused on the basis of mental health and photos of them looking like innocent and good

people are used on the news, but when black people commit a crime such as thievery, their

mugshots are published and they are represented in a worse way than in which a white murderer

is represented. However, as Barnes explained, “On the other hand, user-generated content is

inherently biased, so the notion of objectivity is far-fetched, and as far as accuracy is concerned,

this is a concept that is very difficult to maintain in these kinds of writings, where there is really

no accountability,” (Barnes, 2012). If the story had only been covered by citizen journalists and

accepted as truth, chances are that the story would have been twisted with bias and the factual

truth would not have been unveiled had it not been for traditional journalists. Traditional

journalists used the videos, interviewed those who witnessed the event, and conducted fact

checking until they finally published the story and updated it as new information resurfaced.

Clearly, citizen journalism and traditional journalism can work together and support each other

in order to maintain ethical journalistic standards. As Barnes explained, "Here is, in fact, a case

for harmonious coexistence, as long as each recognizes the limitations of the other. The most

valuable components of citizen journalism are the ideas, comments, pictures and videos which

are generated by people on the ground and which mainstream or traditional journalists can use as
they shape the final product,” (Barnes, 2012). On the opposite side, traditional journalists aren’t

always in the right in the way that they report, as there have been countless cases in which

traditional journalism has let down the public by spreading fake news or news that were poorly

fact-checked. A great example is the case of the Hitler Dairies Hoax which took place in

Germany, when a reporter from Stern magazine, a well known magazine in Germany worked

with a con artist with an expertise in forgery to publish a story stating that they had found

Hitler’s lost diaries. The diaries were auctioned, and its rights were bought for millions of

dollars, approved authentic by experts, and the story reached worldwide news until it was later

revealed as a hoax. This hoax ruined the reputation of Stern Magazine and left those involved

with fines, jail time and ruined reputations. As reporter for The New Yorker Sally McGrane

explained, “Many people believe that there was simply too much money at stake for anyone to

come to their senses,” (McGrane, 2013). In regards to people asking how they could have let

such a stunt to take place. Which proves that often even the people with important positions who

are expected to be honest and ethical, care more for money and power and very little for the

truth. People believed Stern magazine because of the credibility, power, and authority that it’s

name held in Germany, but this is proof that not all traditional journalists can be trusted, as there

are some in it for the money, not to honour the craft and ethics of journalism.

In conclusion, there is a light and dark side to citizen journalism and traditional

journalism. Sometimes both work hand in hand to deliver an ethical result to the people, but

when traditional journalists forget the ethics and guidelines of the job, they lose the title of a

traditional journalist and become citizen journalists. Citizen journalists could at times collaborate

traditional journalism with videos, images, and investigation conducted by the citizen/s, but

when working alone, citizen journalism is a highly unreliable source because without proper
training, practise in the field, and accurate understanding of the ethics and guidelines of

journalism, things like fact checking, detecting spin related content, and taking ethics into

account before publishing an article slips right through their fingers. These mistakes, as small as

they may seem to some can have grave consequences, especially in a modern world where in the

matter of seconds a story from Africa can become viral in Alaska. When the story is accurate and

truthful, this is a matter to celebrate, but when it’s not, this results in not only the names of the

people involved being shamed, it can result in people believing lies and in result changing the

way they view society and make decisions for the worse. Theodore Roosevelt said at the national

convention of the Progressive party in Chicago on August 6, 1912, “Behind the ostensible

government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no

responsibility to the people,” (Roosevelt, 1912). A quote from 109 years ago is extremely

relevant today, even more so today than it was then. Our minds and societal views and values are

shaped by invisible governments through our everyday interactions with the media in which

propaganda, fake news, biased news and spin related content is present and exists as truth in our

brains. The reason it exists as truth is because we as a society were raised to accept what he learn

from figures of authority as truth, instead of questioning it. The crucial lesson here is to question

everything and not believe everything published by traditional journalists or citizen journalists,

while one can be said to be more trustworthy and reliable than the other, it doesn’t mean no

mistakes are committed, and while citizen journalism is often responsible for creating and

promoting spin related content and fake news, there are times when their journalism is used to

serve traditional, honest, and ethical journalism.

Sources:
• Alexis Francel, Anthony Gharib, et al. “Myths about the COVID-19 Vaccine Debunked.” Arc

Publishing, 6 Apr. 2021, www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2021/04/07/myths-about-the-

covid-19-vaccine-debunked/.

• Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election.”

Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 31, no. 2, 2017, pp. 211–236.,

doi:10.1257/jep.31.2.211.

• Corinne Barnes (2012) Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional Journalism: A Case for

Collaboration, Caribbean Quarterly, 58:2-3, 16-27, DOI: 10.1080/00086495.2012.11672440

• Holiday, Ryan. Trust Me, I'm Lying: the Tactics and Confessions of a Media Manipulator.

Portfolio/Penguin, 2018.

• McGrane, Sally. “Diary of the Hitler Diary Hoax.” The New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2013,

www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/diary-of-the-hitler-diary-hoax.

• “Sound Recordings of Theodore Roosevelt's Voice  :  Articles and Essays  :  Theodore

Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film  :  Digital Collections  :  Library of Congress.”

The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/theodore-roosevelt-films/articles-

and-essays/sound-recordings-of-theodore-roosevelts-voice/.
• Timothy, Jithender J. “How Does Propaganda Influence the Opinion Dynamics of a

Population?” Cornell University Physics and Society, vol. 1, 29 Mar. 2017,

doi:arXiv:1703.10138v2 .

• “UK | England | Derbyshire | Fairy Fool Sparks Huge Response.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Apr.

2007, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/derbyshire/6514283.stm.