Citizen journalism in the business world

by: Terah Stoelk
Guest Writer

Laura Ernzen is the Marketing Manager at IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union. She started her marketing and public relations career at Quad City Bank & Trust as a Marketing Specialist and worked her way up to Marketing Manager. From there she was offered a job at IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union.

Ernzen is still young, only 26 years old, and the spark still shows in her eyes. Ernzen is a St. Ambrose graduate who prides herself on the fact that she learned all the skills needed for the workplace at Ambrose.

“I check the local blog sites every day” Ernzen said.

She also stated that with citizen journalism and blog cites comes the possibility that false information can get out about your company. She checks the local blog cites on a regular basis, that way if false information gets out about IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union, she can go straight to the source.

Ernzen says, “This is rarely a problem because most citizen journalists police each other. They are usually the ones calling each other [in]to accountability.”

Ernzen’s efforts to protect her company’s image are not shared by all people in the company.

“It all depends on your comfort level with technology. It is a shame to have to say this, but I have found that the older you are the more resistant you are to newer technology. Whereas, young people [grew up] with the Internet and have a little less ‘fear of the unknown.’”

Companies like IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union now have to worry about their image on the web. Citizen journalism, a grassroots movement, is finding its way into the mainstream media. It is helping bring unknown and important issues to the forefront of our minds.

“Citizen journalists are a form of public relations. They are spreading information by word of mouth from one blogger to the readers of the site. It is uncontrolled public relations where anything goes. It can be helpful or harmful to your company depending on the message that is being sent out by the bloggers” Ernzen said.

Citizen journalists are able to bring to attention issues that regular news media overlooks. When asked about objectionable content grammar, Ernzen said. “It helps to give me insight into the person that is writing the post. If they have poor spelling, incorrect grammar, or use profanity, that is someone I would not take seriously.”

“Citizen journalism will never completely replace true journalism. It is just another outlet for the news,” Ernzen said.

“I would consider supporting citizen journalism as a public relations opportunity if it reaches a key market or demographic that is hard to reach and the standards of the citizen journalist match what I am looking for, then it is something that I would consider” Ernzen said.

“I think that citizen journalism can be a good thing if done in a correct manner. The theory of fair and impartial reporting should be used. Like real journalists, they should try to view both sides of the story impartially. If you have to take sides, do it in an appropriate manner.”