Andrew Keen's (Not So Keen) Outlook on Citizen Journalism

Andrew Keen’s book The Cult of the Amateur takes a very pessimistic look at the Web 2.0 and the effects on the real world.  In chapter 2, Keen outlines the “noble amateur” and what that means for society.  Specifically he uses the example of citizen journalism.  Keen warns against the citizen journalist culture.  First, he describes that these amateurs do not need to tell the truth.  They do not have the editor of the New York Times over there shoulder fact checking.  Keen uses the example of Hurricane Katrina where bloggers were the first “reporters” on the scene.  It turned out that “inflated body counts and erroneous reports of rapes and gang violence.” (48) were reported by said bloggers. While they do not need to tell the truth; Keen also shows that citizen journalists do not the resources to bring reliable news.  A CEO, political figure, or celebrity (usually) will not give an amateur blogger the time of day, thus they do not get the news straight from the source.  Instead they get their news from a source of a source or from the major news outlets.  This can lead to a watering down of factual information or misinformation all together.  Finally, Keen speaks to the seriousness of misreporting news with the comparison of a journalist and a blogger.  A journalist can go to jail for telling the truth, while a blogger cannot be prosecuted for lies.  All of this freedom can be used irresponsibly to mislead and betray the public.  Keen’s point of view that citizen journalism is a negative part of the Web 2.0 is clear throughout this chapter.

While Keen is not keen on the idea of citizen journalism, there have been instances where these amateurs have been crucial in breaking news.  In 2002, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott made racist comments during Storm Thurmond’s birthday party.  Thurmond ran for President on a segregationist platform in 1948.  Lott claimed that “..if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years” (Shirky, Everyone is a Media Outlet, 61).  The typical news outlets did not pick up these racist remarks; so then why did Lott resign fifteen days later?  How the Trent Lott-Storm Thurmond Story Grew Legs and Crushed a Political Career describes how Lott’s ignorance would have went unnoticed if not for citizen journalism.  All of the journalists at this event were considered ‘insiders’, thus they did not want to upset their patrons by reporting an unflattering story on one of the Republican Party’s leader.   A report like this would have led to an insider being out casted from the group and losing their professional edge. However, a blogger has no such commitment.  The blogger’s took this story and ran with it until the traditional big guns in the US journalism took notice.  Once that happened, Lott was doomed.  He lost his post later in the month, losing the backing from his own party. The “noble amateur” was crucial in breaking this damning story.

Keen is overly critical of the Web 2.0 culture, especially in reference to journalism.  While the checks and balances for the truth do not exist, this can be advantageous to noble amateurs.  The Lott story illustrates that the free reign of the blogosphere can lead to the bigger, more official, news outlets picking up a missed story.  Bloggers do not have alligences to groups, they just want their version of the story on the web.  This severely weakens Keen’s observations that citizen journalists are killing the profession and American culture.  Instead of weakening journalism, bloggers can be used as a support system that help journalists get a head start on a story.