Citizen journalism describes a form of journalism that is driven by citizens without any prior journalistic education or experience, which often is published on dedicated digital platforms, websites and blogs. Citizen journalism often revolves around hyper-local or issue-specific reporting on social issues like homelessness. Citizen journalism projects often aim to empower individuals and communities to share their perspective and invalidate stereotypic mainstream media reporting.
Some citizen journalism projects and platforms are driven by former journalists, which offer guidelines on how to report, or even professional editing and mentoring. Other community based, hyperlocal citizen journalism projects offered workshops and editorial meetings to support their contributors and enhance the quality of their reporting. When asked about their process of professionalization, citizen journalists often pointed to feedback from peers, participation in conferences and workshops and the use of online courses on journalism. In contrast to some forms of participatory journalism, the level of interaction between content producers and the main stream media is usually rather low.
