In our designated groups we were tasked to do a brain storming activity on Empowerment, more specifically Phone witnesses/ Civilian Journalists. We came to some interesting conclusions in regards to this topic as it ranged from the positives of this type of raw and unfiltered media to the lack of depth and accountability.

Thanks in great deal to technological advancement many of us have the ability to capture news worthy moments thanks to our smart phones. Although it may be amateur footage, today’s phone user mainly the younger demographic, have a good working knowledge on shot composition and there are features that aid in capturing footage. This means that most of us have the ability to report news at a much quicker pace than any Large News Corporations on social media platforms such as Twitter. This global access thanks to Web 2.0 has also allowed people from around the world to report stories that might not be shown on the six o’clock news, giving reader a more global perspective.

This is all well and good but there are, just like all things in life its downsides. This lack of accountability and regulation could be taken advantage of and could result in misinformation.Large News Corporations should, in an ideal world anyway, double check their information to ensure that the they are reporting the facts. Civilian journalists don’t have to do such a thing and often lack depth or have some sort of agenda they want to achieve through what they report as facts. Large News Corporations might have agendas too but at least they are expected to live up to a certain standard.