Ethics in citizen journalism: incident of teenage girl molestation in India
Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
ISSN: 1477-996X
Article publication date: 13 March 2017
Abstract
Purpose
New media is reshaping mediated communication. This paper aims to examine whether the online community is concerned about ethical issues in citizen journalism.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses critical thematic analyses to examine 1,402 comments posted in response to two YouTube videos of teenage girl molestation in India. This method was appropriate, as it will show how public reacts to information disseminated by common citizens and also show whether ethics are related to citizen journalism.
Findings
Results show that although some viewers questioned the cameraperson’s and the passerby’s morality, several supportive comments praised the cameraperson’s presence of mind and courage. Furthermore, it shows that while some viewers vilified the victim, others advocated a more prudent response. This shows ambiguity regarding ethics in cyberspace. The mixed reactions present strong evidence to challenge the idealistic and exceedingly rational original notion of the public sphere as homogenous or integrated on issues of public concern. Instead, result exhibits an emergence of pluralistic, intersecting and contending publics that are created by new communication technologies like the internet.
Research limitations/implications
The study was specific to a particular context thereby lacking generalizability. However, it implies further investigation of social agency and the underlying politics in the move from local to global.
Originality/value
These findings necessitate a reconceptualization of cyberspace ethics to accommodate the new publics that have materialized from new media technologies.
Keywords
Citation
Pande, S. (2017), "Ethics in citizen journalism: incident of teenage girl molestation in India", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 15 No. 01, pp. 2-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-05-2016-0017
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited