So having taken the advise of my course colleagues I looked again for examples of ‘citizen journalism’. Almost immediately during a trawl of the bbc news site, I came across this article:
Arlène Agneroh; the lady in the image, is a 33 year old single lady from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is successful, educated and attractive.
However, “In a predominantly Catholic country where many women are still confined to the household, marriage is widely seen as a necessary rite of passage”.
Arlène says she was saddened by the fact that this image posted on social media led to friends automatically concluding that she had got married, without asking any questions or checking the facts.
This a perfect example of citizen journalism highlighting a social issue.
The couple posed for picture above after this image of the two of them together was misconstrued as them being a married couple.
It is an example of images that, when taken out of context can lead to a misleading viewpoint. However, in doing so it has inadvertently highlighted an issue for women living in the Congo.
The fact that it is now being reported on the BBC shows traditional journalism is picking up on stories from social media and is able to add a more balanced view.