Citizen Journalism

The advantages that blogs provide to potential citizen journalist is that it serves as a mainsteam media network that allows information to be distributed worldwide. It gives citizen journalist the freedom to write about anything that they want to share with the public. Bloggers are not consider to be journalist nor pursue the career as journalist, instead they share their personal ordeal (first-hand report on ongoing events), they can also investigate critical issues and tell stories even if they are being cover up by professional journalist as mention in chapter 4 of Blogging Digital Media and Society Series by Jill Rettberg.

In some cases bloggers have been able to tell the true story and show facts about it. For example Magnus Ljungkvist was able to discover that Maria Borelius, a newly appointed minister, had failed to pay taxes as an employer. When questioned on this by a journalist, Borelius answer that she could not afford it at that time.The journalist had failed to search for credibility and took her word for it. Magnus took the extra step and found the truth in public records which showed that Borelius income was above the average Swedish income. The journalist had publish false information, meanwhile a citizen journalist reveal the truth creating honesty and credibility to bloggers.
The advantage is that it gives the opportunity for opinions and ideas to be view all over the world. Whats unique about this new trend called blogging is that people are finally practicing their freedom of speech.

Yoani Sanchez is an extraordinary human being that is capable of sharing her personal struggle and daily life from Cuba. She is able to share her ideas, and express her feelings in fourteen different languages, and her Generacion Y blog is one of the most popular sites visited by people each day. She has taken her skills and transfom her ideas into words that is easy to read and follow. Ted Henken in his interview "Desde Cuba with Yoani Sanchez: From Verbal Violence to Citizen Cyber-Journalism" Yoani mentions the importance of her blog since Cuba news reports are fully control and censor by the Cuban government (monopoly)
Her main concept is to report the relality of Cuban life as it is. She promotes respect and eleminates Verbal Violence simply by ignoring ignorance. Yoani never attacks her government nor has use phrases that can create an internal conflict. Her main idea is to write her personal life and events from Cuba.

Some of the pitfalls and liabilities of relying on blogs as a substitute for journalism, is that bloggers are subjective and independent, and is not reliable all the time. It can be translated as a journalist has credibility because of the institution it represents, meanwhile a blogger is credibility is base on personal authenticity, and personal opinion and emotions.
Why Yoani Sanchez blog can be problematic to rely on, as a source of news and information about Cuba? In my personal opinion i do not see it as problematic instead i respect her personal struggle and courgare doing what she does daily. I agree in her blog she does not insult nor disrespects the authority of Cuban leaders. Her ideas and personal anecdote are well distributed.
The truth will not always be a pure fact because information will always be manipulated and distorted.