journalism & trends

CIVIC JOURNALISM

Civic journalism is a phenomenon that excludes the concept that the journalist and readership/ audiences are just spectators in everyday life, in political, social, economic and cultural issues.

by Fazli Rrezja

Through the civic journalism citizens are able to participate and take part on decisions about different issues that influences their daily life.With civic journalism even ordinary people can debate in different issues and be active participants in decision making of his/her community life.

Citizens concerns should be one of the most crucial factors in civic or public journalism.Today, being a good journalist means that you are involved in the most challenged mission and to complete this task in a successful way it is considered as human service toward certain communities. Reporting the truth about injustice, inequality, discrimination, massacres in a certain community, corrupted government and so on, helps the society to be aware of local and global malfunctions.

Moreover, journalist role, in another side it is a considered as an observer. He observes the changes and new events of our modern societies, and then he takes a pen and writes about it, in order to tempt people and to engage them in political, social issues to make better decisions for e sake of better future.

Civic journalism’s role is to develop democracy, while stimulating political interests of citizens and providing the information for citizens in order to held the government responsible for any malfunction in system that is acclaimed to be in the service of the society. These type of journalism serves in favor of democracy on different communities, must constantly act to promote diversity, political tolerance, the rights and welfare of citizens, factual reality and not to develop mistrust, rivalries, hatred and misuse information such as in Rwanda, where media reflected in favor of conflict and violence.

One of the main functions of the media in promoting democracy and good governance in emerging countries is to help in creation of an effective system of information, where citizens can act freely in order to receive economical, law, political and all spheres of information. Besides, the other key factor is to monitor the function of political and social institutions in order to engage the trust or doubt of citizens of their state governing.

The essential element of civic journalism in a democracy is when well informed citizens can make decisions in their community interest. That is how ordinary people gather round the foundation stones of democracy.