In defence of citizen journalism.

Recently, I listened to episode E169 of the Trish Wood Is Critical podcast in which she made some unfavourable comments about people like me who describe themselves as a ‘Citizen Journalist’.

Trish has been a professional investigative journalist for decades.

She suggested that the term ‘journalist’ should be reserved for people who “make a living” in this line of work.

Britannica defines ‘journalism’ as:

“journalism, the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through such print and electronic media as newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, social networking and social media sites, and e-mail as well as through radio, motion pictures, and television. The word journalism was originally applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, specifically newspapers, but with the advent of radio, television, and the Internet in the 20th century the use of the term broadened to include all printed and electronic communication dealing with current affairs.”

Notice that this definition does not insist on journalism being paid work.

I quality as a citizen journalist

I declared myself to be a “citizen journalist” to distinguish my amateur status from paid professionals like Trish. I write daily and feel justified to publicly acknowledge that I am a published book author and a regular Substack writer who often covers topics about which Trish also writes and speaks.

Unlike Trish, I no not collect subscription revenues for My Life Lens, the name under which I write my Substack pieces. Trish pitches her audience in every episode to build a reliable subscription income stream for her work. As a proven “old school” investigative reporter, her podcast earnings enable her to consistently deliver a professional show and attract invite important quests to her show. She hosts subject matter experts and persons of fame/notoriety who enrich her podcast with credible content.

My writing is my hobby.

I like to write. It feeds my creativity. It helps me to shape and clarify my thoughts on many topics. I have always been an “ideas guy”. Writing also supports my Libertarian political activity as a former candidate in 9 elections. I take both seriously, albeit within the limits of an unpaid pasttime.

One reason I wrote and published a book, “What to do about Climate Change, A Libertarian Proposal” was to attract potential invites to shows like Trish Woods Is Critical. Published authors are frequent guests on contemporary podcast shows, especially if their book(s) address got public issues. My book offers a unique idea to address industrial greenhouse gas emissions without government involvement.

Unique perspective.

My Life Lens is both the title of my Substack page and the term I use to denote my personal, metaphysical ideas ( this is the subject an another book to be competed later this year). Every human being perceives life through the “lens” of their wholly unique past life experiences and acquired knowledge. My life lens is as legitimate as Trish Wood’s while, of course, being very different on most levels.

While professional investigative journals like Trish claim to report the facts of their story, they cannot escape the contents of their life lens from bleeding into the story. The same goes for me and every other writer. This “grey zone”  is where the line blurs between accurate reporting a story and penning an opinion editorial.

I have been a paid subscriber to the Trish Wood Is Critical podcasts for over two years because I value the work she does. I have chosen not to monetize My Life Lens because earning money has never been my goal. Instead, I write to bring ideas and content to people that are reflective of my values and priorities in various subject domains including: economics, politics, political theory, information technology, health and medical sciences, and more.

I hope that Trish reads this post and becomes less critical of citizen journalists like me. We are both on the same side, trying to rally citizens to stand up to the many malevolent forces that are trying to tear down civil society in Canada. I see no reason why professional and amateur journalists can’t row the boat in the same direction over Canada’s choppy seas.