Making your own news

When I pick up the Daily Beacon on my way in to my first Spanish class, it's pretty obvious that I have no intention of reading it cover to cover. I might skim the front and check out some of the bigger headlines inside, but really, I'm in it for the crossword. Online, it's the same thing. I just click on my RSS feeds and I get exactly what I'm looking for.

People seek what interests them. And what could make news more interesting than being part of it? When random individuals have the opportunity to submit video, pictures or other information to enhance a story, they feel included. They can take interest in a story that might otherwise have seemed unimportant.

I think it's interesting when citizens submit their own information because it has a way of making the one reading or watching the news feel more involved. There's something about knowing that someone just like yourself contributed to a news story. You can relate to the everyday off-the-street "journalist." When you see a video clip someone sent in from their cell phone, you can almost picture yourself in their place. It's not like they had shown up at the scene with their reporting materials and cameras, expecting to interview people or capture an important moment. It just happened.

So long as the information is valid, it is a great tool to enhance a story and it gives people the chance to feel involved. This changes reporting in that anybody has the ability to report news. You don't have to have a fancy news camera to capture the image of a tornado destroying a farm house. Digital cameras, cell phones and easy access to computers and internet allow anyone to contribute to news. It is beneficial, because traditional journalists at broadcast stations and newspapers can utilize the materials given to them by random citizens that happened to be at the scene. The options are seemingly endless.

Does that mean anyone can contribute? Well, no, not exactly. There would have to be a certain process of verifying video footage and pictures, just as one must verify information before printing or airing it.

I've never contributed content to a news story, but I've always had more interest in stories involving citizen contributions. One of my favorite things about the Weather Channel is when it shows photos of storms or landscapes taken and submitted by citizens across the United States. Local news channels also offer the same opportunity, like when people of the community send in pictures of fall leaves by the lake in town or of Fourth of July fireworks at a local celebration.

When it comes to news, people just want to feel connected, and contributing to the news is a great way to do so.