daily reporters
The controversial Susu Event in 2016, which triggered nationwide discussions about the status and behavior of citizen journalists, led many people unfamiliar with citizen journalism to form a negative view of citizen journalists. At the 2017 PeoPo Citizen Journalism Symposium, the second topic up for discussion was citizen journalism and citizen journalists. Several panel speakers shared their thoughts regarding the definition of a citizen journalist and put forward their suggestions and views on the kind of issues that they believe citizen journalism should report on.
Citizen journalist A-Ben, one of the panel speakers and a longtime participant in citizen journalism asked what exactly defines a citizen journalist and who defines it? It is the citizen journalists themselves who define it. Director of PTS News Department, Li Chih-te, touched on a couple of major issues facing citizen journalism; if ordinary journalists must make a distinction between their personal life and professional work, then shouldn’t citizen journalists also do the same? Shouldn't there be one consistent standard for all and, if so, what should this standard be? In addition, Eve Chiu, Foundation for Excellent Journalism Award CEO, who has observed the development of citizen journalism, expressed her joy to see the flourishing of civic power in Taiwan. Through the development of citizen journalism, she believes that a sphere of discourse can be formed, not just for salaried professional journalists, but one in which everyone can participate and interact, which was in fact, the original intention for the promotion of citizen journalism. Karen Hsu, an executive with the Global Workers' Organization, Taiwan, said that citizen journalism gives foreign migrant workers a voice in Taiwan, allowing them to express their views, promote themselves and advocate their rights and benefits, while at the same time also promoting the labor rights of their fellow countrymen. Finally, during the open discussion, the enthusiastic questioning by many participants regarding the status and standpoint of citizen journalists prompted a great deal of exchange and discourse, bringing understanding and clarity to many previously gray areas.