Essay/Paragraph-Format Answer:
In current times, almost every American has a cell phone, and the vast majority of these devices have Internet and video capabilities. As a result, whenever a newsworthy event happens, there is usually someone around who can record the event; these people can become citizen journalists, which is a big advantage. Often, it can take minutes or hours for professional news personnel to arrive on the scene of an important event. During the Iran protests of 2009, all official international journalists were expelled. Only ordinary citizens were able to take pictures and video of the events. These people risked their lives to transmit information to the outside world, and thousands were imprisoned as a result.
Essay/Paragraph-Format Answer #2:
Citizen journalism is important for people in a certain community to know what is happening at the time. Citizen journalists help spread information about something that is going on, for example if there was a city election the journalist would spread it on social media to inform the citizens about what is going on. Citizen journalist played a big role in the coverage of the Iran election protest in 2009. At the time, all official international journalists were expelled, and only regular citizens were able to capture the event on camera. Most citizens risked their life just to show the outside world what was happening.
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