Indian editor says citizen journalism is "all baloney"

Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of the Indian Express, has scoffed at citizen journalism as "all baloney."

"Show me a citizen lawyer or a citizen doctor and I'll show you citizen journalists."

Instead, Mr. Gupta says, a "golden age" would dawn for India's legacy media thanks to a younger crop of "competent, digitally-savvy journalists" who valued "accuracy, fairness, and credibility."

Mr. Gupta, who is popular for hosting a quirky televised interview show in which he strolls outdoors with his interviewee, was addressing convoking students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore on Saturday.

Find a report here.

Picture courtesy of paidcontent.org

Update 05/04/09: Not exactly "citizen lawyer/doctor" but CNN today runs a story on the growing tribe of "citizen scientists"

Also see: Asia's social media use zooms
And: Can citizen journalism restore a sense of autonomy?
And: Criminal charge slapped on Orkut activist in India
And: Some thoughts on citizen journalism and Mumbai
And: Community blogs, "a new breed of watchdog"
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
And: Hyperlocal Web journalism meets "civic, intellectual and social needs"
Finally (*phew!*): A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists

3G technology promises more power to citizen journalists

A few amateur reporters using Twitter, Flickr and GroundReport became stars during the Mumbai terrorist attacks of Thanksgiving 2008 with riveting, even insightful, coverage.

Vinukumar Ranganathan, a software engineer, was one such star. In an interview with Kavitha Iyer of Mumbai's Indian Express today, Mr. Ranganathan offers a prediction for the future of newsgathering.

News, perhaps collected by unskilled folk, will be a huge source of raw material for mainstream media agencies to tap into. Once 3G comes in, it will actually be affordable to send live photographs and even videos from cellphones to people across the world.

See the Wikipedia entry for 3G here
Also read, "Some thoughts on citizen journalism and Mumbai"