Citizen Journalism in Nigeria: Rethinking Credibility and Trust in a Digital Age

Abstract

Citizen journalism has become an integral feature of Nigeria’s media landscape, emerging as both a response to and a critique of mainstream journalism. While it has broadened participation and created new avenues for voices historically excluded from the public sphere, questions of credibility and ethical accountability continue to frame debates around its legitimacy. This study investigates how professional journalists and citizen reporters in Nigeria understand and negotiate the imperatives of credibility, using Democratic Participant Theory as a conceptual lens. The study employed a purposive survey of one hundred respondents, evenly divided between professional journalists and citizen reporters. A structured questionnaire was used to capture perspectives on credibility, gatekeeping, regulation, and training. Findings reveal both convergence and divergence. Professionals overwhelmingly support traditional mechanisms such as editorial gatekeeping and regulatory oversight, seeing them as essential safeguards for accuracy and responsibility. Citizen reporters, however, largely reject such mechanisms, perceiving them as restrictive or politically motivated. Despite these differences, both groups express strong support for training initiatives, which are seen as a constructive pathway to enhance credibility without undermining autonomy. The results highlight credibility as a relational and context-dependent construct rather than a fixed professional standard. In times of political tension or social protest, audiences may find citizen reporting more credible because of its immediacy and independence from elite institutions. Yet, these same qualities leave citizen journalism open to accusations of sensationalism and misinformation. This study contributes to scholarship by foregrounding practitioner perspectives often absent from debates on credibility. It also provides practical recommendations for hybrid models that combine openness with accountability through training, digital literacy, and professional–citizen collaboration. Such approaches offer a more sustainable pathway to strengthening journalism’s democratic role in Nigeria.