Citizen journalism has often been questioned for its legitimacy and credibility, but lately the best documentation of recent events has been from citizen journalists, those who simply had a camera, were at the right place at the right (or wrong) time and were able to capture the moment.

The sheer simplicity of owning a smartphone with a camera and its easy to share capabilities makes it possible for many people to become citizen journalists and record what many news crews wish they could take credit for. Journalists can't be everywhere all the time, so it's up to the folks without the credentials and press passes to show the world what actually happened.

The most surreal video of this past week's deadly tornado in Oklahoma was captured by residents who couldn't believe what they were seeing. The bombings at the Boston Marathon were also captured by many who happened to be recording the race and happened to catch the moment of the explosions and the aftermath.

Then we have the frightening footage of a man who allegedly murdered a British soldier in London making comments as to why he committed such a heinous act. A man apparently on the way to a job interview who was recording the scene was approached by one of the suspects and that footage made its way to media outlets around the globe.

Other events such as the Japanese earthquake in 2011 and the resulting tsunami, and the recent meteorites that have appeared in several continents have all been documented by regular folks who were able to record compelling video and share it with the rest of us.

As a former broadcast journalist, I first struggled with the term "citizen journalist" since I felt the word 'journalist' implied someone trained in the business of newsgathering and reporting. However, I've come to terms with it and realize we can all be journalists in some ways. We can all describe what's taking place, we can use our cameras to record a major event and then we can share it with others.

Professional journalists often fear the citizen journalist, but instead of fearing them, they should be embraced as whatever they document can also be a great help to a journalist's own reports, not to mention the fact that they may have been able to capture truly historic moments in our history.

Go ahead, pic up that camera or smartphone and press 'record.' You never know what you may get! (Just please make sure to share!)

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It proves that in 2013, an older article can resurface and receive much more attention than it did before social media became the norm and begin a PR nightmare for a company and its much disliked and highly controversial CEO.

So what did Jeffries say that was so terrible 7 years ago?

"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids," he told Salon. "Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either."

Oh, THAT's all.

The comments were cruel and greatly criticized, but all you have to do is go into one of the darkly lit establishments and peruse their garment displays or go online to see the blatantly obvious exclusion of XL sizes and higher for women, and pants no larger than a size 10. However, the double standard is painfully clear for men who have shirts available to them at XL and XXL. Regardless of your personal opinions about Jeffries or the company's way of advertising, it has caused backlash that will most likely affect a portion of their bottom line this year.

Many took to the Abercrombie Facebook page to express their outrage with comments such as these:

"So, will A & F be paying hospital bills for all the young girls that are hospitalized for eating disorders after your CEOs damaging and hateful comments?"

"Abercombie & Fitch supports bullying and eating disorders. Pass it on."

"And you wonder why young girls are so self conscious and depressed. You are contributing to the downfall of our young women. Shameful."

The fact is that Abercrombie & Fitch, even after the comments were originally made in 2006, still raked in the big bucks, but now with so many people disgusted with Abercrombie, what will happen next? Will Jeffries be fired? Has he angered enough people to warrant his removal? Has the size XS scarlet letter been branded on the company for good?

What are your thoughts? Should Jeffries be fired? Are you no longer shopping (if you ever did) at Abercrombie & Fitch?

Bless the folks in the Abercrombie PR department who will have to deal with this mess for a while and most certainly never allow Jeffries to ever speak on record again.

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com 

Image courtesy of Flickr user prayitno

This SPOTLIGHT belongs to Julie Wernau, energy and green technology reporter for The Chicago Tribune.

We hope you find SPOTLIGHT both enjoyable and informative.

Julie, was journalism what you always wanted to do or did you become a journalist by chance?

Until I became a journalist, I’d never considered journalism. In college, I double-majored in English and Psychology, a combination which, if I recall correctly, translated into reading dark poetry in dimly lit coffee shops and spending untold hours entering data for psychological studies, including one that asked people to guess the lengths of various metal objects while blind-folded. I thought I’d be a poet or a clinical psychologist. A wise English professor pulled me aside and bluntly told me that I was a better critic than a poet. As for being a psychologist, an internship working with assault victims convinced me that I wasn’t ready to take on the world’s problems at such an intimate level.

Where was your first journalism job?

Soon after graduation, I landed a job working at The Waterford Standard, a weekly newspaper that covered a town by the same name in Connecticut. The paper defined community news: Nearly every byline in the newspaper was mine, senior citizen commission meetings were legitimate news and no announcement was too small for the front page. The most important lessons I’ve ever learned as a journalist I learned in that job. Big stories start with the little things – chief among them, compassion, a genuine interest in the people you cover and humility.

How did you become an energy reporter?

Waterford, the town I covered at my first journalism job, is home to a nuclear power plant. In covering the town, first for the weekly and later for the area’s daily newspaper, I became a bit of an expert in electricity markets, nuclear waste storage, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a host of other issues related to the nuclear industry. After spending a couple of years as a police reporter, I moved to Chicago, took on the business beat and found myself, again, drawn to energy issues. The energy beat is where it’s at – politics, business, the environment, the economy … all wrapped into one crazy package. Plus, we all need it. It keeps the lights on. It powers our smart phones. It heats our homes. It cooks our food. It powers our vehicles. It doesn’t get more personal than that.

What type of stories do you usually cover?

Illinois is ripe with energy stories. We have more nuclear plants than any other state, a thriving coal industry, a fierce political scene, a bevy of wind companies competing for wind-rich farmland, pending regulations for massive oil drilling operations (A.K.A. “fracking’) and big plans for electric vehicles. My goal is to boil down this complexity for readers so that they can understand what is happening, how it impacts them and why they should care. A story has layers. It has bite. It matters. It tells me something I didn’t know before. 

What's your favorite part about being a journalist?

I learn something new literally every single day. And, sometimes, when I learn it, I’m inside a coal mine or at the base of a wind turbine or on the roof of a skyscraper or talking to one of the smartest people on the planet. So, that’s not so bad.

Do you work with PR professionals and what advice do you have for them if they want to pitch you a story?

Yes, all the time. If I could give them one piece of advice it would be: Be real. Journalists are real people. Get to know me (or at least Google me) before you pitch me a story. Take the time to figure out what I’m about and I’ll be more likely to take the time to listen to your pitch.

What should they always do and never do?

If you pick up the phone to call me, always ask if it is a good time to talk. Never ask if you can read my story before it goes to print. I’m happy to check facts. But you aren’t my editor.   

What's the best way for someone in public relations to develop a working relationship with you? 

Again, be real. If you aren’t sure what kind of stories I’m into, ask me. Or, better yet, ask me to coffee. Also, honor deadlines. 

What has been the biggest challenge you've experienced? 

When I make a mistake, I make it in front of millions of readers.

Is there a career highlight that sticks out?

When I was a police reporter, I uncovered a predatory lending scheme that was bloating the local real estate market and destroying the credit and lives of dozens of homeowners. The stories gained the attention of the state’s attorney general and the FBI and led to the convictions of several co-conspirators. At one point, the state’s attorney general called me into his office and asked me for help so that he could develop a case against the scheme’s perpetrators. It was the first time I truly realized the power of the printed word.

What's your advice for someone just starting their journalism career?

Rise above. When people tell me journalism is dead, I tell them they obviously aren’t reading. Journalism is a field that is in a constant state of flux. Learning to live in a constant state of change is an art. But it isn’t impossible. Focus on doing good work and don’t get distracted by all the drama happening around you. The rest will follow.

If a young journalist wants to cover the energy industry, how should they prepare?

Read. Read. Read.

Is social media a big part of your job? How so?

I’m particularly hooked in to Twitter. I use it to get a quick gauge on what people are talking about, particularly in the energy sector. With a couple of search tricks, I’ve even used it to find “real people” for stories.

How has ProfNet helped you?

ProfNet has been a great way to find fresh sources for stories on my beat. It’s easy to keep going back to the same sources for quotes or advice. ProfNet has helped me find new angles and insight I hadn’t considered for topics I’m writing about.

What would you be doing if you weren't a journalist?

I’d probably be a career counselor. I love mentoring and giving career advice. I worked at a career center in college and never quite lost the bug. I’m still the one my friends turn to when they need resume advice.

When you're not at the Chicago Tribune working on a story, what do you like to do?

Any excuse to be outside, I’m there – biking, kayaking, hiking, picnics, outdoor concerts. It makes Chicago winters a bit rough.

About Julie Wernau

Julie Wernau is the energy and green technology reporter for the Chicago Tribune’s business section. She covers electric and natural gas utilities, energy markets, green tech start-ups, battery technology, energy legislation, the country’s largest owner of nuclear power plants, the coal, oil, natural gas, wind and solar industries and their associated regulators.

She tends toward stories that explore the impact business and economic trends have on the lives of real people: employees, business owners and consumers.

Before coming to the Tribune in 2009, Wernau enjoyed a stint in media relations at Connecticut College, a private non-profit higher-education institution. Prior to that, Wernau worked at The Day Publishing Company, a daily newspaper covering Southeastern Connecticut, where she was a multi-award-winning police/fire reporter.

Her stories about a local predatory lending scheme led to investigations by the FBI and the state’s attorney general and the convictions of several co-conspirators.

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com 

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, which according to UNESCO is "a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession."

On this 20th anniversary, we reflect on the fact that here in the United States we have freedom of the press, freedom of expression, while too many nations around the globe do not have this basic right. Media outlets are censored and journalists are attacked or murdered for exposing the truth or for reporting something unfavorable in regards to a certain person or group.

We often take for granted that we go to work, do a story and return home. The most someone will do is write a negative comment after our story on a website, call and say they did not like or agree with a story, but other than that we do not usually fear going to bed that night or worry every time we dine al fresco at our favorite restaurant. For the most part, journalists are respected. Not to say violence against journalists does not happen here because it does, but not in the same manner as in other countries.

Overseas, many never return home, their next stop being a morgue instead of their living room. It is a sad and terrible situation, but one that cannot be forgotten and ignored. Critics of journalists who place themselves in precarious situations or who work in dangerous countries will often say to simply find another profession or to get out of such a place.

What these people fail to realize is the concept that being a journalist is sometimes not "just" a profession, but a calling. It can be a way for that journalist to stand up for what is right and to report about a violent and corrupt government or to bring awareness to the unthinkable events and atrocities that take place daily. It is not something they just like to do but need to do, the same way one may know from childhood they want to be a surgeon or a performer.

Let us take some time to read the stories of some journalists who never returned home this year, who made it their life's work to speak for those with no voice, to expose the truth, to tell a story that needed to be told:

• Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh (Somalia)

• Rodrigo Neto (Brazil)

• Carlos Manuel Artaza (Paraguay)

• Mikhail Beketov (Russia):

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com 

We hope these links will help you stay aware of what’s happening in these fields and provide some beneficial information.

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of a Rating War (via The New York Times by Brian Stelter)

"One Wednesday last month, Ann Curry, camouflaged in a hat and trench coat, trudged into the art-deco lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It had been nine months since she was pushed out as co-host of the 'Today' show."

Major breaking news errors giving rise to new responses in Boston coverage (via Poynter by Craig Silverman)

"There is nothing new about the fact that a major breaking news event unleashed a torrent of rumors, hoaxes, reporting errors and misinformation. That some of them still reverberate, and will continue to, is also par for the course."

The Remarkable Decline in the Wall Street Journal's Long-Form Journalism (via The Atlantic by Alexis C. Madrigal)

"I do not have any particular expertise in the inner workings of the Wall Street Journal newsroom, but this chart speaks for itself. It shows the number of stories the Journal published that were over 2,500 words from 2002 to 2011. Dean Starkman of Columbia Journalism Review created the chart and referenced it again today. (He used to work at the publication.)"

Social media and the Boston bombings: When citizens and journalists cover the same story (via Nieman Journalism Lab by Hong Qu)

"In a breaking news situation, journalists get an adrenaline rush. There is a palpable eagerness to get the scoop, to be the first to bring the story to the public. In today’s world of social media, mobile phones, and the real-time 24/7 news cycle, though, journalists face competition from all sides: eyewitness accounts, official sources, and even friends and family are sharing news before mainstream news institutions have 'published' the official news story."

#ConnectChat Recap: Succeed in Freelancing With ASJA (via ProfNet Connect by Maria Perez)

"With the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) holding its annual conference in a few weeks, we thought it would be a good time to catch up with Alexandra Owens, executive director of ASJA, to get the inside scoop on the conference and what’s going on at ASJA. [Full disclosure: ProfNet is a sponsor of this year’s conference. We hope to see you there!]"

Diller: Death Will Come for 'Irrelevant Media' (via NetNewsCheck by Michael Depp)

"Barry Diller has good news and bad news for newspapers, and local TV should listen, too."

Next FCC chairman will impact journalism (via Columbia Journalism Review by Tracie Powell)

"Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced last month that he was stepping down, and journalism advocates have since been lining up to voice opinions on what Genachowski’s successor should do differently in dealing with media."

Family of Missing GlobalPost Journalist James Foley to Hold Event on World Press Freedom Day (via press release by Northwestern University)

"The family of missing GlobalPost journalist and Northwestern University graduate James Foley is holding an event to raise awareness on World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd in Boston."

Tumblr's David Karp on The Closing of Storyboard: It 'Didn't Work' (via Capital New York by Joe Pompeo)

"'We gave it a year, and after evaluating it, we decided it wasn't really the right tool in our tool box,' said Karp, speaking at a conference hosted by the website paidContent. 'It was working in some regards. It wasn't working in the ways we intended.'"

Breaking News and Social Media: Stop Fighting It (via 10,000 Words/mediabistro by Karen Fratti)

"Social media and journalism are back in the ring this week. They’re both pretty strong contenders, but not without their weaknesses. In the immortal words of Paulie Pennino, let’s blow these punch-outs."

Whether you're a reporter, blogger, author or other content creator, ProfNet can help you with your search for expert sources. You can send a query to tens of thousands of experts and PR agents, search the more than 60,000 profiles on ProfNet Connect, or get timely experts and story ideas by email -- all for free! Need help getting started? Email us at profnet@profnet.com