The role of the citizen journalist.

• Position: Mass Media

"Somewhere in my memento box I have a piece of wire copy, the paper kind, announcing a news flash from the 1980s. I was a young TV reporter in the days before the Internet, and that's how big news arrived: on a machine that clicked out wire service reports. I saved that slip of paper to remember the time when I, as a journalist, sat on the front row to history.

"I was among the privileged gatekeepers. That front row is gone," declares Mary Bock, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Texas, Austin. "There's more news on your phone at this very moment than we ever had on our rolls of cheap paper. Odds are you read it in bits and pieces instead of a concentrated sit-down with the newspaper or TV newscast. Odds are also that you are sifting through your social media feed, sharing items, and posting your own news or opinion. You've become a gatekeeper, too."

She adds, "Anytime you decide what to share, you're doing the work of a news editor. Anytime you post news you witness, you're working as a reporter. When you comment, you're a pundit in your own world--and while you may think that world is limited to an approved circle of acquaintances in your Facebook or Twitter account, think about the people who've lost their jobs, been humiliated, or achieved worldwide fame for a post that has gone viral.

"Our national conversation about policing, privacy, and electoral campaigns has been influenced by citizen contributions outside what used to be the normal news gatekeeping process."

We are living in a paradox, asserts Bock. We spend more time with media than ever before--about 12 hours a day in the U.S., according to eMarketer, yet the Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., reports that only about one in five of us have "a lot" of trust in news media. Trust in social media is even lower, at 14%. What does this mean for our society?

"There are three simple things every one of us can do to foster trust and improve the quality of our online information environment: first, seek the...