It looks like national media in many countries are losing their credibility as reliable and objective means of information, at least for critical thinkers. Take Paul Craig Roberts, for example. The former assistant secretary of Treasury in the Reagan administration, in his article The Difficulty of Being an Informed American, slashes the major function of mainstream media, i.e. selling products and brainwashing the audience for the government and interest groups. Both writers and editors have been held responsible by Mr. Roberts for turning media into a cheap source of commercial persuasion and political propaganda. Some highly celebrated media, including The New York Times, have been named as the means of misleading the American people and justifying deplorable measures like the US aggression on Iraq. Mr. Roberts necessitates turning to international new channels and alternative newspapers, including online newspapers and websites, for keeping track of objective realities.

No doubt that the readily accessible world wide web has introduced the general reader to the actual voice of the reporter who can add a piece of news, a review, opinion, or audio-visual item almost any time. Citizen journalism, like that practiced on Instablogs, has added the luxury of first-hand views without any significant intervention from the editors, except of course for language corrections and/or removal of offensive content upon complaints. But the views and editorial policies of the managers are not imposed on the journalists. The most appreciable feature of channels like Instablogs is none else than the privilege of viewing global voices speaking from all corners of the world on one single channel. Here you can see what anyone, in any place on the globe, thinks about an issue of import. The Mumbai blasts of November 26, 2008, sparked diverse views – many of them conflicting, and many in agreement – on Instablogs from citizen journalists in many countries. By razing the nationalistic and commercial censors off the editorial scene, Instablogs has set a milestone in citizen journalism.

Like all new arrivals with similar goals and functions, citizen journalism on the Internet is likely to face competition from mainstream media, which already is quite tense with the race for popularity. The advantage of heavy funding from commercial sources and state/governing bodies certainly rests with popular newspapers, TV and radio channels, and other periodicals. But online citizen journalism stands its own powerful grounds in offering diversity of voices, easy accessibility by a global audience, and above all, interactivity that is denied to other audiences of mainstream media. Anyone can be a citizen journalist and bring up neglected, off-beat issues that cross the path of our conscious experience but do not make it to print publications or electronic channels due to selectivity of the journalists and the comparatively rigid editorial policies of popular media.

There are certain challenges to citizen journalism on the Internet; the major one being prevention of abuse by potential propagandists who would seek advantage of free membership and uncensored postings. Fake identities and spamming are other potential risks. There is also some criticism from professional journalists and established media who view citizen journalists as not quite able to sustain the standards of objective reporting; hence, a presentation of low-quality information. But then this view obviously smells of professional envy and needs authentication with special references, particularly in the context of all the gaudy and cheap content abounding in the pages and footages of many popular mainstream media.

On the whole, citizen journalism on global channels like Instablogs put an end to the limitations on conveying information through state-controlled media and the commercialization of otherwise useful information – things that characterize many of our contemporary media including newspapers, radio, and television. With a notable increase in education and the passion to connect with the world through the World Wide Web, citizen journalism sounds just like the urge of the 21st century.