Dangers of citizen journalism and blogging!

We all love to blog. But there are dangers looming. Many bloggers in the middle-east have been jailed for merely doing what we are doing. Last night I listened to a frightening BBC program where the hot topic of citizen journalism was under discussion. There is a whole section of the world, especially big media houses and journalists who believe we have no right to be disseminating information. They argue that bloggers are loose canons, accountable to no one and have facts which cannot be verified. These are very sound arguments, which we as bloggers must do well to avoid.

But we are the eye on the street level. We are the voice of the voiceless. We are paid by no one, and so we write without bias. We write what we genuinely believe to be true representations of facts.

But be warned, ensure whatever you write can be authenticated. Soon enough you will begin to see defamation cases against bloggers coming up. You must also know that you are liable, much in the same way as any newspaper.

Food for thought.