Citizen Journalism as a Crisis Information Infrastructure: A Cross-Case Examination of User-Generated Content Verification and Broadcast Integration in Indian Television News
Keywords:
Citizen journalism; user-generated content; crisis communication; Indian television news; UGC verification; broadcast integration; social media verification; participatory journalism.Abstract
The proliferation of smartphones and the democratisation of real-time content sharing have fundamentally altered how crisis events are reported, circulated, and consumed in India. This paper examines citizen journalism as an emergent crisis information infrastructure, with particular attention to how user-generated content (UGC) is verified and integrated into mainstream Indian television news broadcasts. Drawing on a cross-case methodology spanning four major crisis episodes between 2019 and 2024 the Pulwama attack (2019), the Delhi communal riots (2020), the Chamoli glacier disaster (2021), and the Manipur ethnic conflict (2023) this study analyses primary data collected through structured interviews with news editors, digital desk managers, and verification specialists at six major Indian television networks, alongside a systematic content analysis of 1,847 UGC-integrated broadcast segments. Secondary data drawn from industry reports, academic literature, and platform policy documents contextualise the structural conditions shaping editorial decision-making. Findings reveal that Indian news broadcasters have developed hybrid verification ecosystems that combine automated metadata analysis with human editorial judgment, yet persist in deploying inconsistent institutional protocols that leave significant room for misinformation amplification. The paper advances a contextualised model of UGC integration that maps the tension between speed imperatives, editorial credibility, and audience trust in the Indian broadcast news context. The study contributes to both the emerging literature on participatory journalism in the Global South and to policy discussions around platform accountability and newsroom gatekeeping reform.
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