David Hazinski (In Thumb Picture) is a former NBC news correspondent turned academic who is an associate professor of telecommunications and broadcast news the Grady college of Journalism, University of Georgia. This past December he touched of a very lively polemical discussion on various blog venues about the role citizen journalism plays in our society and its emerging yet (according to him) questionable status. Prof Hazinski in an op-ed piece that appeared on the Web site of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper (1) called of a set of standards or guidelines to be applied to citizen reporting. He has also suggested, a kind of regulatory body be established to keep citizen journalism on line in line in order to abide by a certain “code of ethics”. Furthermore, the former mainstream reporter has also suggested that accredited schools of journalism as part of their curriculum, devise “mini-courses which would provide certification for aspiring citizen reporters. He has graciously and promptly agreed to share his views on citizen reporting with MyNews.in in this exclusive interview.

Photo: David Hazinski, telecommunications professor and Honors Faculty mentor, explains the production of a live News Source 15 broadcast in the control room of the Grady College studio. (Photos by Peter Frey)

Prof. Hazinski, you say in your op-ed piece that Citizen Journalism (CJ) is not real journalism in the traditional sense, but then in this day and age of high tech communication methods isn’t CJ the natural evolution of news reporting?

Prof. David Hazinski: Sort of. But I think lumping everyone under the expression “citizen journalist” confuses rather then clarifies. What we confuse are three kinds of people who communicate: journalists, witnesses, and opinion writers.

Journalists, defined very loosely and by accepted practice, attend and report on events or issues, check on background, report both sides fairly, condense and organize information, and present it without their opinion, usually very quickly. They generally originate reports. Professionals are paid. Amateurs are not. Stringers are paid per story.