Citizen video journalists and authority in narrative: Reviving the role of the witness

Abstract

New media technologies allow for unprecedented participation in the public sphere, with financial investments on a par with other mainstream hobbies. Citizen video journalists (VJs) are acquiring the technical, and in some cases, narrative skills needed to participate in online discourse. Yet citizen VJs lack the institutional authority enjoyed by professional journalists. This project compares the narrative strategies employed by professional and non-professional VJs to assert their authority. Practitioners were observed in a variety of professional and activist contexts in the UK and the USA over the course of two years and their stories were subjected to textual analysis. The project identifies emerging strategies used by citizen VJs to establish authority.