Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Communicative Action And Citizen Journalism: A Case Study Of Ohmynews In South Korea, Seungahn Nah, Deborah S. Chung

Information Science Faculty Publications

Drawing on Habermas’s theory of communicative action, this case study of OhmyNews in South Korea examines how citizen journalism operates in a broad organizational and social context. Through in-depth interviews with professional and citizen journalists, the study reveals that citizen journalism can be well understood at the intersection between the lifeworld and systems. Specifically, the study finds a coexistence mechanism by which citizen journalism competes, collaborates, coordinates, and compromises with professional journalism through communicative action, such as mutual understanding, reason-based discussion, and consensus building.