Almost since a decade ago, when this new form of journalism took its roots, mainstream media, after the initial hiccups, started to appreciate its contribution in the free flow of information. Though there are many drawbacks as well but overall it has helped the people to highlight issues in the world, which were subject to various kinds of censorship ranging from political to societal pressures. Acknowledging and trying to rope in more people to increase citizen contributions, CNN launched iReport in 2006 and only last year it launched its first edition of iReport Awards in six categories – Breaking News, Original Reporting, Compelling Imagery (photos or video), Commentary, Personal Story and Interview. According to IJNET, it is a way for news organisations to thank people for contributions that are often not otherwise paid for.

This is not the end of the appreciation for the Citizen Journalists, some of whom became the source of change in the Arab World, popularly called Arab Spring that dethroned dictators. The political will forced these citizens to make use of the social networking sites and blogs to foster a change in their respective countries in Tunisia and Egypt. OneWorld.net that usually carries stories on development and human rights and gets them published on Yahoo news has also partnered with Helium to bring OneWorld.net Citizen Journalism awards. According to the information on its website, it is a chance for citizens to think the way a true reporter does: Research, cover the five “Ws” (who, what, where, when, why) and write objective articles on relevant global issues. If you write the winning article, you’ll get byline credit and be featured on OneWorld.net’s unique syndication service on Yahoo! News.

Established in 1996, the Webby Awards have been honouring excellent work on the websites and one of its awards, The Webby People’s Voices Awards honours Citizen’s voices, a feature synonymous with the Citizen Journalism.