ABSTRACT. The objective of this paper is to emphasize the complexity of the news production process, the convergence and divergence of blogging from traditional journalism, the relationship of citizens emerging as producers of journalism, the role of journalism in the new media landscape, and the growing influence of blogs on users. We seek to contribute to a wider understanding of contextual and cultural influences on the proliferation of news providers on the Internet, the nature of the challenges that alternative journalism presents to the mainstream, the value of participatory media production, the factual nature of news, and the social construction of news. pp. 152–159

Keywords: citizen journalism, Internet, new media, participatory communication