"We're all reporters in the digital democracy"

Emily Bell, Monday 20, 2006, The Guardian
Questions:
1) What is citizen journalism?
Citizen journalism (also known as witness contributors, user-generated content) is the term used when talking about the change in journalism in terms of the amount of contribution that citizens can now partake in with modern day journalism. The article says "Once a passive receptor for messages from newspapers, radio and television, media consumers are now making themselves heard in a rapid move towards the democratisation of media."
2) What are the ideas that Emily Bell presents in her article?

• Journalism has shifted from employed, proffesional reporters to citizen journalism due to NMTs such as mobile phones with cameras, the ability to post blogs etc. Quote: "What has changed over the past three years has been the speed, volume, and type of responce that has been made possible by the internet, broadband delivery and digitised media".
• If 9/11 happened today, "there would be thousands of mobile phone still images, dozens and dozens of short videa clips also shot on phones, instant and continuous blogging of the event". "Only five years later, no one doubts that the reporting of the event would be very different".
• Blogging is risky-how do you police it? E.g. blog on the Guardian's website creates controversy as it is hard to control what people post, and some things have to be stopped as they are posted under the Guardian's page.
• "Is it a cynical expolitation of free material? Not really - I am sure we are not far from the point where citizen journalists ask for payment for their best exclusive material, but the nature of the relationship is essentially participatory."
• "The idea that what the professional journalist can provide will always in all circumstances be qualitatively better than a citizen journalist is not true anymore - if it ever was.