Citizen App Changing Live News For The Future

In July 2021, Citizen a popular neighborhood watch app announced that they will begin paying its users in New York city $25/hr to record crime scenes and emergencies as it happens.

While it seems like an announcement that couldn’t possibly put television journalism out of business, it may be the future of news reporting.

Founded in 2017 by sp0n, INC, Citizen has become one of the leading sources of public safety by millennials. With a community of over 5 million, Citizen users have been able to report any kind of potentially life-threatening activities in their area.

In addition to the app sending you a notification whenever a user reports something in the area, there’s also a social aspect. Users have the ability to add each other as friends, as well as having the ability to comment on updates.

The news of Citizen quietly paying users $25/hr to live-stream crime scenes could potentially be a game-changer for the future of live reporting. Up until now, we have been using to news host throwing the reporter live on the scene.

However, there aren’t many instances where we see reporters live on scene as action is happening. With Citizen making the announcement to pay New York users $25/hr to live stream crime scenes, Citizen now has the ability to report on local crimes as it is happening live.

With New York being one of the largest cities in America, Citizen is using New York as the first test run in live reporting.

In May 2021, the NYPD reported that for the year 2021 there were 1182 robberies, 1979 felonious assaults, and 942 burglaries. The high crime rate in New York makes it a mecca for the live reporting potential.

What This Means For Live Reporting

Much like the way YouTube changed the way people view celebrities, Citizen has the chance to change the way we view reporters. With Citizen paying its users to live stream crime scenes, this gives anybody with a phone the opportunity to become a paid news reporter.

Similar to how Uber became a second and even first stream of income for some people, Citizen will allow users to earn a second income as well.

With short-form news and app-based products becoming the new way we view media, Citizen will allow users to shy away from local news networks for news breaks and just tune in to the Citizen app.

The citizen app already has a feature where you can watch different videos of recent crime scenes in the area. With the addition of potentially becoming an app with round-the-clock live news reports, Citizen could possibly make network news reporters obsolete.

Currently, Citizen is paying New York, live stream users, $25/hr. We can only expect New York York to be the first test run with other major cities to follow soon after.

As a resident of the Philadelphia area, Citizen has opened my eyes to the amount of crime that has plagued my city. Gun violence has become one of the biggest problems in the Philadelphia area.

With New York being the first place for Citizen to roll out the live stream payment opportunities, I can only hope that Philadelphia will soon be the next city. Despite the Citizen app being a catalyst in raising the anxiety of many people in the Philadelphia area, the app has done its job in safety.

In addition to the crime aspect of the app, Citizen has also been providing updates on Covid-19. Whether it be a notification that the cases are dropping or where vaccinations are available. Citizen makes sure that its users are up to date on the latest news stories.