Repositioning Citizen Journalism: A Case Study in the Special Region of Yogyakarta

Abstract

Information disruption in the Society 5.0 era has fundamentally transformed how people access, produce, and distribute information. Mainstream media no longer exclusively control the flow of information, as social media enables citizens to produce and disseminate news directly. This study examines the development of citizen journalism, particularly independent social media-based accounts in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. It explores how journalists and editorial leaders perceive their role within the contemporary media ecosystem. The study’s novelty lies in distinguishing independent citizen journalism from mainstream media and proposing a collaborative model based on the perspectives of information users, journalists, and editorial leaders. The study used a qualitative descriptive approach through open-ended questionnaires for members of the public and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with senior journalists and editorial leaders representing mainstream media in Yogyakarta. The findings indicate that citizen journalism has developed into an increasingly influential source of public information and has gained recognition from formal institutions. Its strengths include speed, proximity to communities, flexibility, and public engagement, whereas mainstream media retain advantages in professional standards, verification, and credibility. The study therefore proposes a complementary collaboration model involving information and reporting cooperation, journalistic capacity building, structured content distribution through attributed reposting, and commercial content production. This model repositions independent citizen journalism from merely a source of user-generated content to a strategic partner in the public information ecosystem while preserving the verification standards and professional values of mainstream journalism.