Citizen Journalism

Ian Tomlinson
When Ian Tomlinson died, it was a video filmed by a member of the public that showed that he was hurt by a police officer. The video is different from professional journalism as it was filmed on a video phone so it is of poor quality. Without citizen journalism, the reason for the heart attack which caused his death would have never been known.

Arab Spring
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter helped citizens of Arab countries to organise protests as they could spread information quickly and to large groups of people at one time. Social networking offers freedom of speech, whereas it is less likely for a professional journalist to publicise things that would go against their government, such as the protests. The Arab Spring has meant that many countries that have been under dictatorship have been able to start a revolution as social networking has given them the power to overthrow these dictators.