With the popularization of sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, there has been a new trend of citizen journalism which encourages everybody to become an agent for transmission of news, regardless of experience, ethics, and, sometimes, even their commitment to accuracy. 

Recently, Yahoo announced a new feature which opens its cyber doors to more citizen journalism in hopes of providing additional, enhanced perspectives on current events.

While it cannot be dismissed that there are some benefits in using citizen journalism, there are negative ramifications that are ignored by proponents of crowdsourcing the news.

In order for us to understand the problems with citizen journalism, we must first comprehend what professional journalism entails.

One of the most important factors of journalism is the adherence to a set of ethics.

When reporting news, there is a degree of objectivity that is professionally required. When the reporter is not a professional, the rules and conduct that normally apply are rendered unimportant and dismissed from his or her mind.

Without the need to respect the ethics that go along with being a real journalist, citizen journalists are given the freedom to pursue information in ways that could be detrimental to the entire image and reputation of journalism.

With the increasing speed that news travels these days, rumors through the Internet can often catch on fire within hours of release. This fact is beneficial to the world of communications as a whole because the knowledge is spread to the optimal number of people quicker and with less delay. That is only true if the information released is actual facts. When information is not accurate, it can have serious consequences.

For example, a couple of years ago, there was a rumor circulating the net that the CEO of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs had suffered from a heart attack. The rumor, which was first started by a citizen who claimed to have inside sources, reached millions before the company dismissed it.

On that occasion, citizen journalism failed us because it contained false information leaked by a writer who did not have any credibility but did not need any credibility for others to believe him. If nothing else, newspapers and media sources pride themselves on accuracy. When reporting information from citizen journalists in the mainstream media, there is a major liability for objective journalists who have little way of verifying accuracy.

Ultimately, we must realize that journalism is not a hobby. It is a crucial profession that requires standard ethical practices. Otherwise, the journalist engages in what amounts to deception. 

Journalism requires training and an understanding of guidelines which keep information authentic. When reporting news, there are elements that regular citizens hoping to play journalist do not comprehend, such as neutrality. Before we dirty the name of journalism, we should simply retract.

Let the professionals do their jobs without the constant competition that amateurs would provide.