Citizen Journalism Flourishes in Dark Corners

A global study into 60 citizen journalism projects in 33 countries found citizen journalism flourished under governments which could be characterized as "soft authoritarianism" regimes such as in Malaysia and South Korea. Professor Michael Bromley from the University of Queensland School of Journalism and Communication told The Australian that citizen journalism flourishes "where there is room to comment and to intervene and to participate but there are strict rules: for example, the media is controlled by the state. That creates a need for it." In repressive countries, such as Burma, there were fewer examples. Citizen journalists, Bromley said, "come out of a history that includes social activism. Bloggers and tweeters [users of micro-blogging site Twitter] can be citizen journalists but it's not just that independent personal view. It's about investigating, going to primary sources, offering your opinion. Often the blogger is the primary source."