By: Jennifer Lau
If breaking news happened every hour, would it still hold the same weight? With each new generation, the consumption of traditional media continues to decline. While LSE students are more likely than others to sit down and read the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal, 52% of UK adults now use social media as their primary news source. What is even more alarming is that 37% of respondents in 2024 said they primarily encounter news through social media. Social media has a much faster pace of news reporting and wider spread coverage, beating out the traditional journalism publication format. This shift isn’t necessarily a bad thing—society has become more aware of real-time news due to the constant ‘publication cycle’ of social media. However, the accessibility and speed of social media also present another can of worms: the prioritisation of virality over journalistic integrity in the race for revenue. Are we witnessing the death of traditional publication and the rise of citizen journalism?
Traditional news outlets were once the gatekeepers of journalism, requiring aspiring journalists to navigate high recruitment barriers and have years of experience before a chance to even publish under their publication banner. Older forms of media – such as TV stations, newspapers, and public radio – were exclusive platforms with specific strict requirements before mass dissemination. However, as we see the rise of social media and what seems like a general addiction to social media platforms, alternative platforms like podcasts and short-form videos have expanded, causing a massive decline in readership for traditional media. The result? Citizen journalism. More people are able to enter the market and can profit off of journalistic research without having to do a few years of coffee runs beforehand. This allows a wider range of journalistic research to be pursued, as more people can investigate without the barriers of traditional journalism.
The Blake Lively v. Justin Baldoni lawsuit is a case in point. If you’ve spent any time on TikTok recently, you might have encountered the celebrity drama revolving around the two actors in a battle for public favouritism. More recently in the development of the case, a TikTok journalist under the name ‘Bee Better’ discovered and provided proof of a targeted campaign against Baldoni on behalf of Lively, successfully lending support to Baldoni’s case. Here, the strengths of citizen journalism are clear: they can discover and disseminate information that traditional outlets either overlook or are slower to report on. The advantage of time and freedom to investigate can be seen with the plethora of video essays online, with cases like YouTuber Megalag’s exposé on the $4 billion company PayPal Honey. Citizen journalists are better able to influence and shape the opinions of the public, often with the luxury of being able to explore topics that resonate more with their audiences.
With anyone able to publish content online, traditional journalism has not only declined in readership but also lost its dominance over the job market, weakening its influence on the masses. This shift is reflected in not just the decline in newspaper circulation but also the decrease in digital subscriptions for traditional journalism platforms: according to the PressGazette, the percentage of the UK population digitally subscribed to legacy outlets fell to 8% in 2023, down from 9%.
As legacy outlets struggle to maintain their grip on the public, the issue of potentially false information intensifies. Anyone can report, publish, and share viral opinions without the more stringent checks and balances once guaranteed by professional journalism. And when you’re mindlessly scrolling in the dead of night, you tend to let your guard down and take what you’re reading at face value—especially if multiple people share the same perspective. As much as the viral Lively v. Baldoni drama makes the case for citizen journalism, it is also a warning against immediate consumption of information without proper context or verification. The rapid back-and-forth of public consensus between both sides after the lawsuit was filed, and again after the counter-lawsuit, demonstrates the issue of real-time news with little to honestly no qualification. While this particular case may not be the most significant in terms of misinformation causing damages, it highlights how the public’s perception is shaped by such fast-moving content, leaving even some of the public to question their subjection to media manipulation.
The ease in access to let your opinions be heard through podcasts or short-form videos without verification erodes journalistic integrity. Unlike traditional media outlets, citizen journalism prioritizes speed over accuracy, often sidestepping the fact-checking process.
Rather than being considered ‘true’ journalism, if that even exists, TikTok should instead represent public consensus. It is swiftly made and opinion driven, as the public decides their views on certain topics through the people’s court. As we move forward, there is likely to be an increasing rivalry between traditional media and social media, with the latter being shaped and reviewed by the public. There are going to be significant implications if social media journalism is trusted without certain formal checks and systems of accountability.
How, then, should traditional journalism change in response?
I think it is important to distinguish between tabloid gossip and investigative journalism: while platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter have left traditional journalists in the dust for celebrity news, investigative journalism covering politics, business, and global affairs remains a unique advantage (on average) for traditional outlets. Serious reporting requires resources, major platform backing and credibility—things citizen journalists find more difficult to get a hold of. The credibility of traditional media will be unlikely to be replaced by social media. After all, you would prefer to have a feature article about you in a reputable publication like Forbes than an Instagram Reel! With this in mind, social media should serve as a tool to amplify awareness, allowing you to discover news and later read up more about it through traditional media. Take another case: Luigi Mangione and the murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. The case was broadcast across TikTok, with users commenting on videos to share their thoughts or updates. Social media is no longer a space solely for discussing news; it’s where you discover it.
Citizen journalism is also seen to be increasingly morphing and utilised to support traditional journalism. Citizen journalism can reach a broader audience, as shown by content from people directly affected by events like the war in Ukraine. Not only can they be reported more instantaneously than traditional journalism, they also provide a strong sense of reality and raw emotion to otherwise impersonal headlines, and point more people to stay aware of the conflict through other outlets. In this way, citizen journalism is adapting itself to a promising coexistence with traditional news.
As we look toward the future of journalism, there is a challenge for citizen journalism in maintaining credibility and benefiting off of ‘rage bait’ or the virality of fake information. Traditional media continues to decline in its ability to capture public attention and sustain revenue in an era dominated by digital media. Traditional media must adapt to evolving public preferences, especially in response to declining profits. While the joy of reading a physical newspaper – something us at The Beaver can certainly appreciate – remains steadfast, the industry faces increasing pressure to embrace social media and ensure credibility in a landscape where anyone can publish news. The challenge is in finding a balance between speed and accuracy, creating systems of formality in citizen journalism and finding a balance in the coexistence of the two sides.
