Hi everybody,
Since my article about MyFootballClub and Ebbsfleet United (as well as the role of crowdsourcing in soccer) received numerous visits, I thought it would be useful to continue this ’social’ soccer series today with a post about how you can become a citizen journalist for soccer. If you’re not familiar with citizen journalism then don’t worry, I’m about to go over it all shortly…what it is, why it is and which sites are devoted to it. So if you love soccer and the developing world of the web then this could just be the (almost) perfect article for you!
What is Citizen Journalism?
Where as traditional journalism is about a select group of writers broadcasting their opinions to the world, citizen journalism relates to the writings of the mass of ordinary people who also want to share their views with others. Citizen journalism specifically includes people WITHOUT any journalism training and doesn’t refer to professional journalists. This is a more interactive form of journalism which is in keeping with the modern stage of the web. Citizen journalism websites thus have access to a whole network of ordinary citizens all around the world who can sometimes gain quicker and more personal access to stories than the traditional press. They can then write, publish and share those stories with tremendous speed and effectiveness thanks to the ’social’ age of the web.
What’s the Relevance to Soccer?
Just as a normal newspaper will have different news sections based around politics, entertainment, business and so on, a citizen journalism website has its own categories and these include the major subject of sport- within this of course lies the all important topic of soccer. You can write news stories for soccer just as you can for any other topic, and this will enable you to share your soccer opinions with other people via the internet. So the relevance to soccer is just as strong as to any other topic…and especially strong within this website!
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