Physic

BBC Learning English 6 Minute English

Citizen Journalism

NB: This is not a word for word transcript

Stephen: Rob: Stephen:

Hello, I'm Stephen. And I'm Rob. And this is 6 Minute English! This week we’re talking about citizen journalism.

Rob:

Citizen journalism – that’s when people who aren’t trained journalists write or report about their experiences or use social media, like Facebook or Twitter, to broadcast their messages.

Stephen:

Over the last few weeks, media companies have published a large number of videos, photos, phone calls and blogs from citizen journalists in countries where protests have been taking place, and there aren’t many – or any traditional journalists. But as usual, I’m going to start with a question for you, Rob.

Rob: Stephen:

OK, I’m ready. Which of these six countries, according to figures from internet world stats, has the largest percentage of people using the internet?

Rob:

The largest percentage of people who use the internet. OK. Have got you any clues?

6 Minute English

© bbclearningenglish.com 2011 Page 1 of 6

Stephen:

Well, your six countries are South Korea, Japan, the US, the UK, India or China.

Rob: Stephen:

Hmm…let me think. I would say South Korea. Well, I won’t tell you the answer just yet. We can find out at the end of the programme. So let’s talk about citizen journalism. Could citizen journalists ever replace traditional journalists? Peter Barron, the Director of External Relations at Google, says there has been a massive democratisation in access to information.

Rob:

A massive democratisation – that's when people all over the world can access information on the internet, and use the same tools to publish information themselves.

Insert 1: Peter Barron, Director of External Relations, Google The point here is that there has been a massive democratisation in access to information and the ability to publish information – so everybody these days can be a publisher....