Can we trust these citizens? Are they media literate?

Chapter 7 of Potter’s Media Literacy describes that news for television programs and in newspapers comes from within the scope of the media and that the media are under their own frame of reference as well as at the mercy of others’ opinions.

A Web site blog, “the mcgill report” emphasizes the importance of global citizenship and that the vitally important practice of journalism has become endangered. The site has a linked article “5 Questions”, written by "local man". One of the questions regards the reliability of citizen journalism and gives eight reasons to place trust in citizen journalism.

His philosophy coincides with becoming media literate because he believes the core of journalism is similar to constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Chapter 7 stresses the importance of having a vast assortment of media sources. Part of those sources can come from people without formal journalism training. However, Potter warns to be skeptical of public opinion that is ambivalent, as he believes it is difficult to differentiate between deep seeded opinion and opinion passionately formulated in order to respond when asked one’s opinion.

Potter’s warning interests me because I had not viewed ambivalence as a dilemma. I had found it surprising that Potter failed to address the issue of bias within citizen journalism, because an opinion or editorial piece is labeled as such, whereas citizen journalism does not have labels. While it can be understood all journalism has bias, it is more difficult to determine the extent to which the citizen journalism is biased.

Although we must discern all media we digest, part of becoming media literate is experiencing a variety of types and sources of media. What better way to understand the ins and outs of journalism that to practice it?