Creator journalism is the buzzword in media circles today as ‘creators’ rise above citizen journalists to occupy space in the information world, and as legacy media struggles to find new footing in a disrupted business model and changing audience dynamics.
The term ‘citizen journalism’ has been around much longer, and ‘legacy journalism’ even much longer. Many people are, however, unable to clearly distinguish between the three.
Let’s start with the last one. Legacy journalists are the media folks you have always known. They report mostly for newspapers, television stations, radio and online media platforms. They wear press jackets and caps, carry notebooks and pens (or tablets), camcorders, microphones, voice recorders, etc.
They are the ones you see hovering around news events trying to interview newsmakers and witnesses, or ‘importantly’ strutting around important events. They are the ones listening intently to speeches by politicians and other public figures. And on a lighter note, if you are in Uganda, then they are the ones sometimes being beaten by security forces as they cover elections or political activities of the Opposition.
You read their byline against stories in the newspapers the next day, or on online website minutes after the event or as the event goes on.
You watch them on television screen during the hourly or evening bulletin reporting about events they covered. Or you hear their voices out of radio stations’ top of the hour news bulletins.
Legacy journalists are the trained, professional mass communicators that for years have brought us news and information before the advent of social media. They are guided by a code of ethics that defines dos and don’ts.
They may not always follow the code to the letter, but they can be brought to account for professional errors and misdemeanours through a professional standards body or courts of law.
What about citizen journalists? These are mostly faceless; they can hardly be picked out of the many people in a given place holding aloft smart mobile phones taking photos or recording videos of an accident scene, a political rally, a village fight, etc. In short, ‘.citizen journalism involves ordinary people reporting events as they happen, often without a formal structure. Citizen journalism prioritises immediate, on-the-ground coverage.’
Citizen journalists publish their content on social media platforms in either text, video or picture formats – or all the above.
The most important role (usually unconscious) is that they record events that would otherwise have gone unrecorded or unobserved because they happen in places and at fleeting moments where formal journalists may not reach, or may never have been present.
Key disadvantage of citizen journalists is that they tend to be biased since they may only record what they fancy. They will only show you the leg of an elephant that looks like a tree stump, not the whole elephant! Their reports also ‘.may lack accuracy, objectivity, and proper fact-checking due to the absence of professional training.’
Now to the new fad – creator journalism. How does it differ from the two, particularly from citizen journalism? Well, ‘.creator journalism is a newer model where individuals build a personal brand and community to produce content that can include news, analysis, and commentary.
Whereas citizen journalism prioritises immediate, on-the-ground coverage, creator journalism focuses on building an authentic, trusted personal connection with an audience to deliver information.’
Creator journalists are also known as ‘influencers’.
They share their content on social media platforms in formats they fancy, and accompany it with commentary spiced with their images or videos, thus blending their personality with the content they share. Not all influencers focus their content on hard news or explanatory journalism. Others stick to social issues – soft journalism – like relationships, cookery, etc.
Creator journalists come with advantages and disadvantages. They ‘.fill gaps left by traditional news media, often with more flexibility and less editorial oversight. [However]…this can blur the lines between personal commentary, news reporting, and marketing, and raises questions about how to maintain journalistic integrity within this model.’
Today, we live with all the three journalists every time we consume information. Citizen journalists may deliver immediacy from areas considered ‘news shadows’ and creator journalism may deliver unrestricted news and commentary outside the straight jacket of traditional journalism. However, legacy journalism is what holds the trust card, even when it sometimes flounders.