Is citizen journalism credible?

Dubai: When a man died during protests at the G20 meeting in London last month, it was initially thought that he died of a heart failure. However, images that later emerged -showing police brutally hitting the man - changed the story. This revelation was not made by the news media, but by what is being termed as the 'new media'.

Citizens and conventional media organisations are increasingly cooperating to get the bigger picture in every story. But how can the citizen be trusted?

The power of the new media and the role it plays in changing the face of journalism was discussed at a session hosted by Hossam Al Sokkari, chairman of BBC Arabia. It will be aired on the channel.

Participants and panelists discussed whether 30-second videos taken on mobile phones by citizens can be considered 'news'. A participant from The Guardian said that the police brutality video was thoroughly checked for authenticity. Other participants agreed this was necessary when dealing with community journalists.

A member of the audience from Saudi Arabia questioned how the credibility of the 'new media' could be determined. "Previously, politics would affect credibility, now it could be personal agendas," he said.

Some panelists and participants argued that labels and "polarisation" should be avoided when speaking about the media, and that all forms of media should be seen as one.

Statistics cited at the session revealed that only five per cent of internet users are Arabs and that only one per cent of its content is in Arabic. There are 490,000 blogs in Arabic, of which almost 31 per cent are from Egypt. Four of the top ten countries for persecution of bloggers are Arab, it was revealed.