Overview

What role can the ordinary citizen perform in news reporting? This question goes to the heart of current debates about citizen journalism, one of the most challenging issues confronting the news media today. In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Allan introduces the key concept of ‘citizen witnessing’ in order to rethink familiar assumptions underlying traditional distinctions between the ‘amateur’ and the ‘professional’ journalist. Particular attention is focused on the spontaneous actions of ordinary people – caught-up in crisis events transpiring around them – who feel compelled to participate in the making of news. In bearing witness to what they see, they engage in unique forms of journalistic activity, generating firsthand reportage – eyewitness accounts, video footage, digital photographs, Tweets, blog posts – frequently making a vital contribution to news coverage. Drawing on a wide range of examples to illustrate his argument, Allan considers citizen witnessing as a public service, showing how it can help to reinvigorate journalism’s responsibilities within democratic cultures. This book is required reading for all students of journalism, digital media and society.

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9780745651965

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Reviews

'It's difficult to find fault with (this) book. I hope that it will change the way academics and the wider populous use the various terms associated with what has generally been labelled or mislabelled as citizen journalism and that the term citizen witnessing, as Allan conceptualises it, takes hold.' Digital Journalism 'Drawing on a wide range of relevant work, Allan shrewdly rethinks the idea of the citizen journalist by examining the journalist as citizen as well as the citizen as accidental journalist . Allan's intelligent analysis of both classic and bang-up-to-date examples makes this a key contribution to understanding how journalism should best develop.' John Ellis, Royal Holloway, University of London An important book that moves the current debate about the future of journalism into a new domain. A must-read for journalism scholars, students and practitioners alike. Pacific Journalism Review 'Stuart Allan reminds us 'war zones' are also people's homes. He critically documents how mobile and digital tools in the hands of billions around the world have opened up a radicalizing public service of citizen witnessing -- a phenomenon that is invigorating journalism and forcing democratic (and not so democratic) institutions to greater accountability and responsibility.' Susan Moeller, University of Maryland 'Allan's Citizen Witnessing invites readers to think more deeply about the everyday materialities that define acts of citizen journalism in times of crisis, the very real risks and losses it can entail, and the reasons why we will continue to rely on the courage of its documentarians, and the contingencies of happenstance they face, in the years to come. Citizen Witnessing will be essential reading in journalism studies and beyond.' Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

This combination of historic contextualization, theoretical analysis, empirical research, and news case studies (citizen and journalist) makes what could have been an impenetrable academic text, a lively, inspiring, and thoughtful read accessible to scholars and students alike. Harvard s International Journal of Press / Politics It s difficult to find fault with (this) book. I hope that it will change the way academics and the wider populous use the various terms associated with what has generally been labelled or mislabelled as citizen journalism and that the term citizen witnessing, as Allan conceptualises it, takes hold. Digital Journalism Drawing on a wide range of relevant work, Allan shrewdly rethinks the idea of the citizen journalist by examining the journalist as citizen as well as the citizen as accidental journalist . Allan s intelligent analysis of both classic and bang-up-to-date examples makes this a key contribution to understanding how journalism should best develop. John Ellis, Royal Holloway, University of London An important book that moves the current debate about the future of journalism into a new domain. A must-read for journalism scholars, students and practitioners alike. Pacific Journalism Review 'Stuart Allan reminds us 'war zones are also people s homes. He critically documents how mobile and digital tools in the hands of billions around the world have opened up a radicalizing public service of citizen witnessing a phenomenon that is invigorating journalism and forcing democratic (and not so democratic) institutions to greater accountability and responsibility.' Susan Moeller, University of Maryland 'Allan's Citizen Witnessing invites readers to think more deeply about the everyday materialities that define acts of citizen journalism in times of crisis, the very real risks and losses it can entail, and the reasons why we will continue to rely on the courage of its documentarians, and the contingencies of happenstance they face, in the years to come. Citizen Witnessing will be essential reading in journalism studies and beyond.' Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

'Drawing on a wide range of relevant work, Allan shrewdly rethinks the idea of the citizen journalist by examining the journalist as citizen as well as the citizen as accidental journalist . Allan's intelligent analysis of both classic and bang-up-to-date examples makes this a key contribution to understanding how journalism should best develop.' John Ellis, Royal Holloway, University of London 'Stuart Allan reminds us 'war zones' are also people's homes. He critically documents how mobile and digital tools in the hands of billions around the world have opened up a radicalizing public service of citizen witnessing -- a phenomenon that is invigorating journalism and forcing democratic (and not so democratic) institutions to greater accountability and responsibility.' Susan Moeller, University of Maryland 'Allan's Citizen Witnessing invites readers to think more deeply about the everyday materialities that define acts of citizen journalism in times of crisis, the very real risks and losses it can entail, and the reasons why we will continue to rely on the courage of its documentarians, and the contingencies of happenstance they face, in the years to come. Citizen Witnessing will be essential reading in journalism studies and beyond.' Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

<p> This combination of historic contextualization, theoreticalanalysis, empirical research, and news case studies (citizen andjournalist) makes what could have been an impenetrable academictext, a lively, inspiring, and thoughtful read accessible toscholars and students alike. Harvard s International Journal of Press /Politics It s difficult to find fault with (this) book. I hope thatit will change the way academics and the wider populous use thevarious terms associated with what has generally been labelled ormislabelled as citizen journalism and that the term citizenwitnessing, as Allan conceptualises it, takes hold. Digital Journalism Drawing on a wide range of relevant work, Allan shrewdly rethinksthe idea of the citizen journalist by examining the journalist as citizen as well as the citizenas accidental journalist . Allan s intelligent analysisof both classic and bang-up-to-date examples makes this a keycontribution to understanding how journalism should bestdevelop. John Ellis, Royal Holloway, University of London An important book that moves the current debate about the futureof journalism into a new domain. A must-read for journalismscholars, students and practitioners alike. Pacific Journalism Review 'Stuart Allan reminds us 'war zones are also people shomes. He critically documents how mobile and digital tools in thehands of billions around the world have opened up a radicalizingpublic service of citizen witnessing aphenomenon that is invigorating journalism and forcing democratic(and not so democratic) institutions to greater accountability andresponsibility.' Susan Moeller, University of Maryland <p>'Allan's Citizen Witnessing invites readers to think moredeeply about the everyday materialities that define acts of citizenjournalism in times of crisis, the very real risks and losses itcan entail, and the reasons why we will continue to rely on thecourage of its documentarians, and the contingencies ofhappenstance they face, in the years to come. CitizenWitnessing will be essential reading in journalism studies andbeyond.' Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

Author Information

Stuart Allan is professor of journalism at Bournemouth University. His previous books include: Matheson, D. & Allan, S., Digital War Reporting and Allan, S. & Thorsen E. (eds.), Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives.

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