Citizen journalism and democracy: How user-generated news use relates to political knowledge and participation

Kelly Kaufhold, Sebastian Valenzuela, Homero Gil De Zúñiga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

153 Scopus citations

Abstract

The contribution of professional journalism to democratic citizenship is well-established, but the proliferation of online user-generated news begs the question of whether citizen journalism plays a similar role. Use and trust of both professional and citizen journalism were investigated for their associations with political knowledge and participation. User-generated journalism was negatively related with knowledge of national political figures, but strongly and positively associated with higher levels of online and offline participation; professional news media produced gains in knowledge and offline participation. Trust in user-generated news amplified the link between citizen journalism and online participation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)515-529
Number of pages15
JournalJournalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
Volume87
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Communication

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