Indy Media Exposes Corruption: Why should journalists be punished?

When it comes to citizen journalism, one of the biggest impacts that they have had is helping to expose the truth about corruption and human rights violations. They speak out against governments, they use the internet, video and images to help expose governmental wrong doing. Citizen journalists risk their lives every day in order to have the truth exposed.

This was the case for 28-year-old Khaled Said. Khaled Said was a citizen journalist who gained footage of illegal police action, and who had his life taken for publishing that very content. Government is so afraid of corruption getting out, even in the United States, which is supposed to be the epitome of democracy. When it comes to things like WikiLeaks, or anything that could potentially expose government corruption, they decide to become oppressive, and in some case even take someone's life into their own hands.

The goal of citizen journalists around the world is do what they can to help save a country, to help overthrow a corrupt president or ruler. Through the Internet, blogging, videos, and everything citizen journalists can provide, they are helping change the world, in a lot of cases, they are starting to bring about change that has been necessary for many years.

 I understand that there is a fear that masses that are organized through the Internet are feared, and that people fear they might get out of hand. People have their own agendas, but it takes a group of people that are really passionate about something to cause a demonstration, and in my opinion, those few that are out to take over the world, don't have the support of the majority. Citizen journalists help gain footage that would otherwise be lost. In countries where foreign journalists are forbidden, citizen journalists are there to capture the story.

Citizen journalists have changed the way we see the news; it has changed the importance of news and has changed what we can do about our own well-being. Through video footage citizen journalists have been able to document human rights violations, they have been able to document human torture and unlawful doings by the government and government officials. Is that not what a journalist is supposed to do? Journalists are out there to expose the truth, and that's what citizen journalists are helping to do. They may not be professionally trained, and yes the credibility of information gets a little iffy, but the good that comes out of a tip that turns into a breaking news story, helps put away someone for wrong doing, or helps overthrow an oppressive government, in my opinion out-weighs the bad. Journalists should not be reprimanded for telling the truth. Even more, innocent citizens who happen to publish the truth should not be tortured and killed because they have exposed something the government doesn't want seen. I understand that there are parts of the world that see that as okay, but as journalists and as people, we need to try to make a difference, and that is what independent sources are trying to do. They are working to make the world a better and more transparent place. Transparency is part of democracy, totalitarianism does not include transparency.

A democracy is about the people making decisions and the government being kept in check; public officials and government figures should not be protected from being exposed. If a citizen has an opinion about their behavior, they should be able to express freedom of speech without facing legal consequences. This is what citizen journalists are helping to maintain.

Many more will die in the name of the truth, but hopefully some day, people around the world will be able to publish the absolute truth without be oppressed, censored or punished.

Just because those that are a part of governments around the world don't like what is being said about them, doesn't necessarily make it any less true, and they need to learn to accept that the world is changing, and that the truth will eventually be exposed one way or another.

That's my opinion, hopefully the government doesn't come after me for it.